


I Know Who I Want to take me Home

by 585322586



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cake, Cake meet at a bar, Drinking, Inspired by Mixology, Lots of Luke+Michael+Ashton Friendship, Luke's ex fiance is a jerk, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-06
Updated: 2015-09-16
Packaged: 2018-04-19 08:30:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4739684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/585322586/pseuds/585322586
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Recently cheated on and not at all ready to move on, Luke is forced to go to a bar by his best friends Michael and Ashton. It’s here he meets Calum, and on his journey to move on, Luke experiences a night full of drunken mishaps, embarrassing first impressions, a couple disagreements, and eventually, love. </p><p>Inspired by the TV show Mixology</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Luke wasn’t sure what he was doing.

If you had told him a week ago that he would be spending a Friday night at some bar looking to meet some random dude to hook up with, well, he’d probably tell you that you were crazy. He would then tell you about how he was happily living with his high school sweetheart, who he was recently engaged to and was head over heels in love with. He would also tell you about how they had plans to have two children, hopefully twins, and name them Christopher and Adam (if they had a girl, her name would be Leah because Luke thought it sounded like Leia from Star Wars; and with his name being Luke, well, you get the idea). And then he’d go on and on about how they’d live in the city for a couple of years and then move to the suburbs when the kids got a little older and needed room to play. He would work as a music teacher and his husband would be a successful lawyer, and they would have the best dinner parties that their snobby neighbors would be envious of. Yeah, his life was essentially planned out perfectly.

Except, now he wouldn’t know what to tell you, because the exact reason he’s at this bar is because his asshole of a fiancé decided to cheat on him with Connor from work- the same Connor from work he went on a “business trip” with last month and worked with super closely after that. It didn’t take long for Luke to find out his fiancé was cheating, just a couple of suspicious late night outings, some ominous and flirty texts, as well as finding Connor in bed with his fiancé when Luke was planning on surprising his fiancé with Chinese food and the newest Cameron Diaz film. A couple of hours, tons of screaming, and a broken hand later, Luke was left to crawl into a tiny ball in the corner of their formerly shared bedroom, remaining there for hours until he finally decided to move to the  bed and hide there.

And now Luke was at a bar, dragged here by his two best friends Ashton and Michael after the two of them got sick of watching Luke cry to himself at the very mention of the words love, boyfriend, Connor, or cheating asshole fuckface.

In all honesty, Luke was fairly content with just slowly dying until his heart could no longer handle the sadness and drowned in Luke’s flowing tears. All he had at this point was a broken heart- ok, and also the house, the friends, the dog, the sweet toaster, and all 10 seasons of Friends. But still, Luke was currently dealing with an empty void in his heart, and for whatever reason his best friends thought it would be a good idea to bring Luke out to a bar.

“Guys I really don’t want to be here...” Luke says, downing some drink Ashton had gotten him.

“Dude, it’s been a week, and Michael and I both agree that it’s been the right amount of time for you to get off your ass and move on.”

“It’s only been a week!” Luke argues.

“And do you know what you’ve done in that week? Cry. You’ve just cried and made me and Ashton watch every movie by Nicolas Sparks or anything starring Rachel McAdams with you.”

“Michael, you love Rachel McAdams!”

Michael rolls his eyes, “yeah, but not when the sound of you sniffling and wailing is in my right ear! Kind of ruins her appeal, dude.”

“Ok, fine, I’m sorry, but if you guys haven’t noticed I’m kind of going through a lot right now...”

“Oh for fucks sake, Luke,” Michael groans, “that asshole cheated on you and you’ve gotta move on! He obviously didn’t give a shit about you, and you got to show him that you don’t give a shit either by coming to this bar and hooking up with the hottest dude you can find here!”

“That isn’t Michael or I,” Ashton adds in, “because, we’re obviously the best looking but we’ve both kissed you before and we weren’t very pleased.”

“Are you guys trying to help me or just make me feel worse?”

“We’re obviously trying to help you, Luke,” Michael says while putting his arm around Ashton, “because we, are your best friends.”

“Well, if you were my best friends you guys would know I’m so not ready for this. I haven’t gone out to a bar in ages let alone hit on anyone.”

Ashton scoffs, “what are you talking about? You flirt great!”

“The last guy I flirted with proposed to me then cheated on me. Tell me again I’m great at flirting-“

“Ok you need to shut up about that asshole and get another drink in you because you are a hot, single 24 year old and you’re going to get laid tonight. And we’ll start by having Ashton and I brief you on the different types of guys in this bar so you know what you’re dealing with.”

“Different types of guys?”

Michael sighs, pointing at a group of short, well-dressed guys, “see over there? Those are twinks. They live off of the glory of Nick Jonas’ body and teen bands. They care more about their appearance and Lady Gaga than they do about being genuinely good people.”

“And over there,” Ashton adds, pointing to a group of hairy, muscular men, “are bears. They’re called that because they’re super hairy and will probably hibernate for months if you somehow manage to let one into your house. They can smell fear and have more appreciation for their own facial hair than their own parents.”

“And then you’ve got your leather daddies, which, I really don’t want to go into...” Michael states.

Ashton points to a smaller group of men, “over there you got your clean-cuts, called that because of their preppy private school appearance and their jaw line that could probably cut glass if they wanted to. They’re sort of obnoxious but hot nonetheless.”

“Then you’ve got your jocks.”

“And the geeks.”

“Don’t forget about the otters, they’re like bears except more your body type.”

“Ok, ok, you two need to slow down because I really can’t keep up.” Luke breathes out. This really was a lot more than he was expecting; he was hoping to just meet the first guy he sees and get this thing over with.

“We’re just trying to help you, bud,” Michael insists, “this may seem like a lot now but it’ll all make sense once you’re on the battlefield.”

“How do you two even know about all these terms in the first place?!”

“The internet is a strange place, Lucas,” Ashton admits, “you can learn a lot on that thing.”

“Ok so those guys are the twinks and those guys over there are the jocks, who are those guys?” Luke says, pointing to some guys sitting at the bar.

“Mmm... hard to say. Half of them are probably straight or just super discreet, but they’re definitely not out of the running.”

“Ok... wait what am I?”

Michael ponders this for a second, “I’d say you’re definitely not a bear or a jock... possibly a twink.”

“Hey! I don’t care about Lady Gaga!”

“Yeah but you do love a lot of boy bands and you did have a huge crush on Nick Jonas growing up.” Ashton adds.

“Well, what are you guys?”

Ashton scoffs, “well, seeing as we aren’t gay or anything we’re nothing. But if we were anything I’d say Michael is a leather daddy and I’m a jock.”

“In what world am I a leather daddy and you’re a jock?” Michael spits.

“This one, obviously.”

Luke just sighs at his two friends. This was a terrible idea. “Ok, so where should I start then?”

Ashton and Michael look at each other. “Well, any of the groups spark your interest at all?”

Luke takes a quick scan of the bar, “I mean, the clean cut guys were definitely hot.”

“Don’t go for those guys,” Ashton interrupts, “no offense dude, but they’d probably eat you alive with your lack of confidence.”

“Hey!”

“He’s not wrong, Luke.”

“Hey!”

Michael rolls his eyes at Luke, “what about the jocks?”

Luke stares at them for a moment, “eh... they’re a little too... ‘in your face’”

“Fair enough,” Ashton says.

Luke scans the bar once more, looking for potentially anyone to strike up a conversation with. His eyes go back to the boys at the bar; looking for anyone he may have a chance with. Suddenly, a tanned, raven haired boy in a leather jacket and black skinny jeans turns his way, eyeing him up and down and smiling. The boy raises his drink to his mouth, takes a tiny sip, and turns back to the direction of the bar, watching the TV in front of him intently. It only takes Luke a couple of seconds to come back to reality, completely hypnotized by the obvious bad boy looking his way.

“What about him?” Luke says almost too eagerly, pointing at the boy in question.

Michael and Ashton follow the direction of Luke’s finger, eyeing the potential prospect harshly and silently.

“Hm... he’s drinking a sex on the beach which means he’s into fruity drinks.”

“His leather jacket looks like it’s either from an Urban Outfitters or from his dad’s closet.”

“His jeans look so tight he probably can’t even fit his Iphone 6 into them and has to carry everything in his jacket pocket, like his keys and his gym membership card.”

“Not to mention his hair looks like it’s been dyed before and faded but he’s managed to maintain the perfect messy look.”

The two boys turn to each other and smile; this was the one. Michael takes a deep breath and looks at Luke, “ok, this guys pretty good. Not exactly the type that Ash or I imagined but maybe that’s for the best! If you think you’re ready for him, go for it.”

Luke thinks about this for a second, “you know what, maybe I’m not ready for this. Maybe I’m in way over my head and should just call-“

Ashton puts his hand over Luke’s mouth, “if you ever mention, or even think about calling that scumbag one more time I swear to God Lucas I will take your phone and shove it up your-“

“Ok! Ok! I won’t! Jeez, Ash...”

“I’m sorry man, I just don’t want you getting hurt again.”

“And yet you bring me to a bar where I’m just gonna embarrass myself in front of some hot dude and get hurt?!”

“Luke you’re working yourself up right now and Kevin isn’t gonna like that.”

Luke and Ashton both look at each other, “Kevin?” They both almost say in unison.

“Yeah, dude looks like a Kevin.”

“Ok, regardless of his name, Luke, you need to get over there and talk to him. If you’re not over there in the next five minutes some twink or otter is gonna sweep that bad boy right out of your hands and you’ll end up taking home a bear. Do you want to take a bear home, Luke?”

“No....”

“I said DO YOU WANT TO TAKE A BEAR HOME, LUKE?”

“NO SIR!”

“That’s the spirit! Now go get your man!” Ashton says, pushing Luke off of his bar stool and away from their table in the back corner.

Luke takes one look at his friends from over his shoulder. He’s either gonna thank them for this or hate them, he has yet to decide. With one final breath, Luke starts to make his way to the bar.

“I’ve got this.”




Michael and Ashton watch Luke as he walks away, smiles on their faces washing away as soon as Luke is out of earshot distance.

“Dude, that guy is way out of Luke’s league.” Ashton states.

“Oh, yeah totally he’s fucked.”


	2. Chapter 2

Luke pushes through the crowds of people hovering around the bar, attempting to make his way to the mystery guy Kevin. Was his name even Kevin? Luke wasn’t sure. Luke gave up on finding any sort of common sense in this entire situation hours ago; he just wanted to meet some guy, possibly get his number, and then head home to catch reruns of Criminal Minds.

As Luke makes his way up to the bar, he realizes just how unprepared he is. How does he address this guy? Is his outfit ok? Is the hole in the knee of his black pants tacky? Should he have worn different boots? Should he have kept the beard? Is the lip ring too much? Does his breath smell ok?

Before he has a chance to back out due to this self consciousness, Luke is knocked forward by a large crowd of people, making their way to the other side of the bar in a mad dash for an open bartender. Frustrated, Luke brushes himself off and looks up just to realize he’s standing in front of Kevin, who is looking at him suspiciously while finishing his drink. Crap. He’s a lot better looking up close. There was no way Luke could pull this off.

Kevin doesn’t say anything at first, just looks Luke up and down before putting his drink down and smiling.

“Hi there.” Kevin says, voice lax and soothing to Luke’s ears.

“Uh... hi.” Luke responds. Curse his awkwardness.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” Kevin asks, a hint of teasing in his voice.

“No-I mean, yeah, actually, you could.” Luke could slap himself.

“Ok.... and what can I do you for?”

Luke takes a deep breath before speaking, “could I... uh... possibly buy you a drink?”

Kevin stares at Luke, mouth slightly open with a hint of a smile creeping. “ _You_ want to buy _me_ a drink?”

And Luke feels like he could die right now. He knew this was a stupid idea. Stupid Michael and Ashton forcing him out of the house. Stupid him for actually going along with it thinking he could talk to some stranger and just take him home. Stupid ex fiancé for cheating and making Luke do this to himself. Stupid Kevin for-

“Sure, why not.” Did he just say yes?

“R-really?”

“Yeah, I mean it’s a free drink. Why not?”

Ok, Luke can feel himself breathing again. “Cool, uh... thanks.”

Kevin laughs, and wow did he have a cute laugh. “No problem, take a seat.”

“O-ok,” Luke says nervously, sitting next to Kevin at the bar.

“The name’s Calum, by the way.” So his name _wasn’t_ Kevin. Good to know.

“I’m Luke.”

“Luke, huh? Were your parents a big fan of Star Wars?”

Luke giggles at Calum’s joke, “I don’t think so, but I’m definitely a fan.”

“Me too those films are classic.” An awkward silence fills the air between both of them temporarily.

“So... Calum... what are you doing here on a Friday night?”

Calum shrugs, “nothing really, I live pretty close to here and the drinks are good and cheap so I just come here to hangout sometimes, hoping for something new and exciting to come my way.”

“Oh, that’s pretty cool I guess.”

“Yeah... what about yourself?”

Uh oh. Luke was warned about being asked this question, and Ashton and Michael stressed to him that no matter what happens, he can’t mention the break up or cry.

“Well you see... um...”

“Um...?”

Luke sighs, “IjustgotcheatedonbymyfianceandImherelookingforsomeonetohookupwithandmybestfriendsthinkthattheyrehelpingmebutIhavenocluewhatImdoingand-“

“Woah! Woah! Easy there speed racer,” Calum interrupts, “I asked you a question not for your life story.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s just, I’m really going through a lot right now with this recent break up and Michael and Ashton keep telling me to move on and I just don’t know what to do-“




On the other side of the bar, Michael and Ashton are staring at Luke intently, both of them groaning at the sight of Luke potentially starting to cry.

“Oh no, oh dude no he’s rambling. You can tell because his face is turning blue from the lack of breathing he’s doing.” Michael says sadly.

“Dude we’ve got to get him out of there. He’s going to explode right in front of this guy and we’re gonna have to clean chunks of Luke off of him.”

“Is he... is he crying?”

“Oh, dude he’s crying.”

“For fucks sake, you would think Luke could handle this but I guess not.”

“We were wrong to believe in him, Mikey, he’s a lost cause.”




Back at the bar, Luke has just about finished telling Calum about the break up, and at this point Calum isn’t sure how to respond.

“-and now I’m here and I’m telling this to a complete stranger and I’m probably gonna walk away after I stop talking because I’ve just embarrassed myself in front of someone who could probably kick my ass and I’m really sorry for wasting your time.” Luke says, wiping the tears away with the sleeve of his denim jacket.

Calum responds to this by opening and closing his mouth several times, unsure what to say or how to go about this. “I’m... I’m very sorry Luke.”

“It’s ok... I just, really don’t know what I’m doing.”

Calum sighs at this; wow was this guy a hot mess. “Ok, well what is it you want to do?”

Luke sniffles, confused as to why Calum hadn’t asked him to leave or why he hadn’t punched him in the face, “well, I think I want to take someone home tonight.”

“Ok, first lesson, you never _think_ you want to take someone home, you _know_. You’re never gonna get anyone if you’re just going to be a crying, confused little boy. You gotta be assertive, gotta know what you want and go out and get it. You’ve got to be a man, Luke.”

“Ok... how do I do that?”

Calum pinches the bridge of his nose, “uh, well, if you see someone you want to take home, you have to talk to them first. You have to flirt with them, be a really sweet and funny guy, and hope that you haven’t embarrassed yourself enough so that maybe they’ll give you their number.”

“Alright I think I’m following, and then what?”

“Well, by the end of the night you hope that they haven’t found someone else to take them home. If they haven’t, you take them back to your place and have a wild time, potentially have some breakfast and then never see each other again.”

At this point, Luke is lost, “but, what happens if I want to see them again?”

“People don’t usually like to get into relationships with guys they just met at the bar.”

“Well, why not? I mean there are some pretty nice guys out there. I mean, I’ve been talking to you for maybe twenty minutes and I already think you’re great.”

Calum giggles at this, “Eager, are we?”

“You said to be assertive so I’m being assertive. So let me buy you that drink and you’re going to give me your number.” Calum raises an eyebrow at Luke, “I mean, if that’s ok with you?”

Calum has to laugh at Luke at this point, “Ok fine, fine, you’re learning. Ok, how about you buy me a drink, I give you my number, and you go back to you friends over there who have been staring at us this entire time?” Calum says, as both he and Luke turn to look at Michael and Ashton staring directly at them.

“Ok, cool! And you won’t go home with anyone else, right?” Luke asks hopefully.

Calum laughs again, “well, we’ll see about that tiger.” Calum smiles at Luke, watching as his face lights up at the conversation between the two of them. There’s something different about this guy, Calum thinks. If anyone else had pulled the same act in front of him –crying and then asking him for advice on how to pick someone up at a bar- Calum would have punched them across the face at this point or walked away. But Luke is sweet, and hot, and kind of totally Calum’s type with his blond hair and lip ring. He also decides that maybe he shouldn’t turn down every guy that tries to pursue him, actually let someone try to take him home for once. And for whatever reason, Calum decides that if this loser can pull it off, he’ll be the one to be given the shot. So Calum decides to give Luke a chance, because potentially, he thinks, Luke is the new exciting thing he’s been looking for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cake first interacting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also how cute is Luke?


	3. Chapter 3

            Michael and Ashton watch as Luke walks back to them, not looking as miserable as he was when he first walked over to Calum.

            “Are you as confused as I am?” Ashton asks Michael.

            “Dude yeah, he was crying one minute and now he’s walking back to us with that idiot smile of his.”

            “You know, sometimes I think he has your smile.”

            “What do you mean he totally doesn- oh my God, he has my smile.”

            “It’s my favorite feature of yours that he inherited.”

            “He carries it so well too with his cute blond hair and condescending badass lip ring.”

            Michael and Ashton are interrupted by Luke sitting back down beside them.

            “Well hello Lucas,” Ashton starts, “how did that trainwreck go?”

            Luke sighs, “I totally flopped, guys, I told him about the break up and I cried and-“

            “Hold on, you told him about the break up?” Ashton asks, bewildered.

            “And you cried?” Michael includes.

            “Yeah, I know I shouldn’t have I’m sorry.”

            Michael sighs, “Luke, it’s fine. We’ll find you another guy at this bar trust me there’s got to be someone here for you.”

            “Actually, that’s not necessary Michael.”

            “What do you mean?”

            “Oh, well after me and Calum talked it out and I bought him a drink he gave me his number.”

            Michael and Ashton look at each other, dumbfounded.

            “I’m sorry, he what?” Michael asks.

            “He gave me his number, look.” Luke holds up his phone to the two boys, both utterly astounded that Luke had managed to pull it off.

            “Well would you look at that, Mikey! Our boys got game!”

            “Guys stop...” Luke insists, “He might hear you...”

            “Luke! This is a time of celebration! No offense dude but me and Ash didn’t think you stood a chance!”

            “W-what?”

            “Michael...”

            “Yeah, dude! Kevin is way out of your league, he-“

            “Michael!”

            “Hm?”

            “How’s about you go get the three of us a round of drinks to celebrate, hey?”

            “Oh, excellent idea Ash! I’ll be right back!”

            Ashton sighs and turns to Luke as Michael walks away, “I’m really sorry about him.”

            “No, he’s probably right. I don’t know how I pulled that off.”

            Ashton puts an arm around Luke’s back, “it’s because you’re the total package Luke, with your childlike innocence but badass style. I’m surprised I haven’t fallen for you yet.”

            Luke smiles up at Ashton, “thanks Ash.”

            Michael returns about ten minutes later with beers for the three of them. “Drink up, gentlemen. Tonight is a night of celebration.” The three boys cheers and begin taking back their drinks, looking around at the different people around them. “Oh by the way,” Michael adds, “I invited a girl over to sit with us who was over by the bar, hope that’s ok.”

            “Yeah, I invited a girl over earlier who I bumped into by the bathrooms, hope that’s ok too.”

            Luke sighs, “you mean you both picked up chicks already and I’m gonna have to sit here and fifth wheel you guys?”

            Michael looks at Luke sympathetically, “sorry Luke that’s just how this work-“

            “Oh hey Michael! Ashton,” a perky voice says. The three boys look up and meet the eyes of a brunette girl, probably in her mid twenties. Michael and Ashton both stare at her, and then stare back at each other. “Thanks for inviting me over to sit with you guys, I’m just gonna get myself a drink and then come back, ok?” Both boys only respond by once again looking at each other and then back at her, nodding in unison in the process.

            Luke looks between the two of them, confused and unable to piece the puzzle together as he watches the girl walk away. “So... who was that?”

            Michael and Ashton sigh and look at Luke, “my girl,” they both say in unison.

            Luke looks between the two of them, eyes wide and laugh bubbling up in his throat, “Wait a minute, you mean to tell me you guys invited the _same_ girl to come sit with us?” Luke bursts into a hearty laughter, as his two friends stare at each other harshly.

            Michael is the one to break the silence. “Fuck.”




            To say that things at the table were tense would be an understatement. Luke was sat across from the girl, Kennedy, who was chatting vibrantly between Ashton and Michael. And those two were doing a terrible job at being subtle in their competition with one another. So Luke decides to just sit back and watch the chaos unfold, happily chiming in every so often only to be shut down by either Ashton or Michael.

            “So Ashton,” Kennedy begins, “tell me again what it is you do for a living?”

            “Well I’m currently working as a barista at Starbucks and playing night shows at open mic night.”

            “You sing?!”

            “Yeah but not as good as I do,” Michael chimes in, “you see I’ve been playing guitar and singing since I was about thirteen. I taught Ashton what I could but he’s been tough to teach.”

            “Wow, I can’t believe you’re both so musically gifted.”

            “I sing as well!” Luke shouts, only to be glared at by both Michael and Ashton.

            “So the three of you sing, huh? You ever try to start a band?”

            “We have,” Ashton admits, “but Michael is too hard to work with and three is just an awkward number.”

            “Yeah, well me and Luke over there wanted to get rid of Ashton years ago and yet, here he is... just sitting here...”

            “I don’t remember saying that-“

            “Oh, right! It’s because Luke was talking to _me_ about starting a band and not with you because you’re always too busy butting in.”

            “Ok you know what Ashton-“

            “Guys!” Kennedy shouts, “It was only a question.” Ashton and Michael deflate and look at Kennedy, then over at Luke who is stifling a laugh by drinking his beer.

            “Sorry Kennedy, you have to excuse Ashton he has a bit of a temper sometimes.”

            “Yeah and Michael has the maturity of a toddler so once you say anything to rile him up you might as well ready the pacifier because there’s no shutting him up.”

            “I’ll have you know I was an adorable baby. Voted ‘most adorable smile’ at my preschool.”

            “Michael you dropped out of prescho-“

            “So what do you do, Kennedy?!” Michael all but shouts, cutting off Luke entirely.

            “Well actually I work as a sales associate at an Urban Outfitter.”

            “I love Urban Outfitters!” Luke exclaims, happy to join in on the conversation.

            “I could tell! You have great taste in clothing!”

            Luke gasps happily, “Why thank you! You know, it’s so tough trying to find clothes that fit right with my height and with my taste, I mean you would _think_ they would make denim clothing in longer sizes that don’t get wider as they get longe-“

            “Luke!” Michael yells. Luke deflates sadly, and goes back to silently drinking his beer.

            “So what brings you to this bar tonight, Kennedy?” Ashton asks sincerely.

            “Oh, well I’m actually here to meet my-“

            “Kenny!” A husky voice calls from behind them. The three boys turn to see a tall, muscular man standing before them, wearing a dark grey v neck and a pair of bootcut jeans.

            “Oh, there’s my boyfriend! Thank you so much for letting me hang out with you guys. Ash, Michael, you guys are a great couple, if you ever want to hang out just let me know. Oh and Luke we totally have to go shopping together!” Kennedy says as she writes her phone number on the napkin in front of her. She then stands up and runs into her boyfriends arms, kissing him passionately in front of the three boys.

            “Oh, we will Kennedy! I’ll text you any time!” Luke shouts, happily waving goodbye as Kennedy and her boyfriend walk away. Luke turns to the two shocked boys beside him and smiles, “well, that was fun was it not?”

            Michael and Ashton don’t respond. They stare at each other, completely astounded. “She thought...” Michael starts.

            “She thought this entire time that you and I were...” Ashton continues.

            “Dating? A couple? Possibly banging?” Luke chimes in smugly, watching the color drain from his friends’ faces.

            Michael slams his head onto the table. “This needs to stop happening.”

            Ashton follows suite, “fucking tell me about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a lot of Cake in this chapter but I'm really enjoying writing the Luke/Michael/Ashton dynamic. Also slight Mashton for some of you Mashton fans. Thanks again for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

It’s been about an hour and Luke is having a better time than he was before. He’s been cradling his phone in his hand, deciding whether or not to text Calum or to go find him in this massive bar.

“Do you think it’s time for me to text Calum now?” Luke asks desperately, “What if he found someone else to go home with? I should probably ask him if he has-“

Ashton snatches the phone out of Luke’s hands, and stares at him dumbfounded, “what the hell is wrong with you?!”

“Hey! Give that back!”

“Luke! You never just straight up ask someone if they’re coming home with you.”

“Yeah dude that’s just some level of wrong we’ve never even thought to reach.”

“Well... why not?” Luke asks, confused.

Ashton sighs, “Because if you ask them, it makes you look desperate and or crazy and the last thing you want to do is look desperate and or crazy to someone.”

“Calum probably wouln-“

“You talked to Kevin-“

“Calum.”

“ _Calum,_ for about half an hour, tops, and in that half hour you told him you were recently cheated on _and_ you cried. You have no idea what he’d do if you just straight up asked him. You gotta play it cool, Lucas, you got yourself a good guy and you can’t lose him now.” Michael reasons.

Luke sighs; why was this so difficult?

“Ok, well what do I do now?”

Ashton and Michael look at each other, “well,” Michael begins, “you wait it out, see how the night goes. You make your decision when it’s last call, so you rack up at least ten to fifteen numbers to give yourself options.”

“Ten to fifteen?! I could barely even get one!”

“We know, so you’re gonna have to act fast and act smoothly or else you could be putting all your eggs into one basket and that is a very risky decision.”

“Ok, well what if I don’t want to look for anyone else? What if I just want Calum?”

Ashton and Michael once again look at each other and sigh, “well, then I guess you just wait for it to be last call and pray he somehow doesn’t find anyone else.”

“Yeah,” Ashton adds, “Because that boy is one fine piece of as-“

“Hey!” Luke shouts, “don’t objectify my man!”

Ashton raises his hands up defensively, scanning the bar in the process. “Oh, dude, Michael, five o’clock. Two 10’s and a 5. 10’s have volleyball builds and 5 is probably their high school friend who they were nice to because her parents had a good house for parties.”

Michael turns, looking passed the girls Ashton had pointed out in an attempt to not stare directly at them, “Oh, dude, we totally got this.”

“We may need Luke’s help though.”

“My help?”

Ashton and Michael turn inward, leaning forward prepared to talk to Luke. “Ok,” Ashton says, “Since we basically helped you get yourself a guy tonight, it’s your turn to help us.”

“H-how do I do that?”

“Simple, you’re gonna wingman both of us until the time is right and then you’re going to decoy yourself and rid of the ticking time bomb over there.”

“I’m going to wing what? And decoy what bomb?”

Michael sighs, “You’re going to talk up me and Ashton, and then when the time is right you’re going to distract the ugly one.”

“But aren’t they all pretty, in some way?”

“Luke I swear to God I-“

“As me and Michael were saying,” Ashton interrupts, “you just have to talk to their.... alternative friend while me and Michael swoop in and get the numbers of the... non-alternative friends.”

“What makes you think this is going to be so easy?”

“You’re gay, dude. Chicks love gay guys almost as much as they love those tiny dogs on Instagram that wear small clothing and have millions of followers, despite the fact those dogs don’t even have a clue what the heck Instagram is, nor do they acknowledge their small outfits or millions of fans.”

“Those dogs _are_ pretty adorable-“

“Regardless, it’s your duty as a wingman to distract and deploy while Ashton and I direct and destroy.”

“Direct and destroy?”

            “You know, we direct them to our bedrooms later and destroy their pus-“

            “Ok! Ok! I get it!”

            Michael huffs, “good, do you think you can handle this?”

            Luke scoffs, “of course I can handle this! At what point do I tell them you have amazing bodies and have good relationships with your parents?”

            Michael and Ashton turn to each other, sighing.

            “We’re fucked.”




Calum was having the time of his life, if time of his life meant watching other people around him fail at picking up chicks and dudes. There was nothing funnier to Calum than watching an elaborate set up fail, to see the face of the dejected fool who had spent two hours in their parents bathroom freshening up, only to walk out of this place alone and just as desperate as when they walked in. Calum watched this happen all the time; Calum watched a lot of things happen. See, Calum prides himself on being an observer, catching moments between people that usually went unnoticed or unrecognized. For example, five minutes ago he spotted the way the dude with his girlfriend in the back corner checked out the hot male waiter who walked passed, and the way the same hot waiter slipped his number into the dude’s pocket when his girlfriend wasn’t looking. Or an hour ago when he watched two chicks get into an argument over who had stolen whose drink, and laughed when both of them failed to realize the drink they were arguing about wasn’t even either of theirs to begin with. It wasn’t that Calum was judgemental, per say, he just enjoyed watching the mishaps and tribulations of those around him explode.

And mishaps happened all around Calum: break ups, fights, you name it. This too is where Calum prides himself, prides himself on the fact he never has to deal with any of this because Calum refuses to be tied down. Calum has lived his entire life single, instead preferring to lead guys on, sleep with them, and then completely block them out of his life. It wasn’t that he was easy or that he was prone to sleeping around, it was simply that Calum could never find a guy who was “worthy” enough of his time and there were many opportunities to find one. And Calum had found every excuse in the book to turn guys away after just one night: terrible eyebrows, poor music taste, appreciation for comically oversized knick knacks, and once finding out this guy was into pretending to be a wolf in bed.

So Calum would spend hours just sitting at this bar, watching the waves of men attempt to crash into him, only to turn them away so quick they probably walk away with whip lash. Calum refused to get tied down, let alone by someone who hit on him at a bar. It was a rule he stayed true to, and a rule he would live by for the rest of his happily single life.

But when Luke showed up, things were different.

And now Calum was watching Luke and his two weird friends chat up a group of girls, watching Luke’s body language and the way he did this foot thing where he would playfully place one foot on the other and kind of roll his ankle to the side. He also noticed how when Luke was nervous he would bite his lip aggressively, looking to the top left to avoid eye contact with anyone while doing so. Luke also always looked like he had elevator music playing in his head, a kind of dopey but also adorable look to him when he naturally was just listening to someone speak.

There was something interesting about this boy to Calum, and Calum was not ready to let this something interesting get out of his sights. He was still waiting, however, for Luke’s friends elaborate scheme to have Luke wingman them bust. Taking a sip of his drink, Calum watches as Luke is about to finally speak up. He smiles to himself.

“They’re fucked.”




“And then I said to the guy I said, ‘no, sir, it is you who will be kissing _my_ ass’” Michael erupts into laughter at his story amongst the circle of Ashton, Luke, and the three chicks Ashton had previously spotted. Ashton and Luke followed, laughing a little too enthusiastically at Michael’s kind of lame story, but seeing as the girls loved it there was no complaining.

“Michael you are so funny,” the blonde of the group says, “you should really consider doing comedy for a living.”

“Why thank you, you know I’d love to do stand up but I kind of prefer sitting down.” The group again responds to Michael’s joke, laughing exuberantly and loud.

“You know, Michael has a fantastic body.” Luke says, completely out of the blue.

And all at once, Michael, Ashton, as well as Calum from his seat at the bar groan. Fucking Luke.

The three girls awkwardly giggle, looking at one another and then back at Luke, “and he has a great relationship with his mom.” Luke says proudly. Man, was he nailing this!

“That’s... uh... good I guess?” One of the girls says.

“Yeah, it is isn’t it?” Luke says, positively beaming.

Trying to save themselves, Ashton interjects, “uh, as Michael was saying earlier-“

“So,” Luke continues, turning to the “alternative” friend, “you wouldn’t happen to have had a really nice home when you lived with your parents would you?”

The alternative friend lights up, “why, yes I did. Do I appear well off or something?”

Luke shrugs, “something like that.”

Michael turns to Luke, whispering in his ear, “Luke I don’t think-“

"You know, I’m solely basing this off of your alternative appearance.”

The three girls gasp, “excuse me?”

“Luke no that’s not-“

“Yeah! I mean the way in which you dress is so non-conventional you must get compliments on your appeal in clothing quite often, and that must trace back to very financially stable parents.” All at once, everyone turns to Luke, who just continues smiling and talking, “I mean, if I was a girl I could only wish to be so lucky as to pull off some of the outfit choices I’m sure you do. And I can assure you what you have on now is fan-tas-tic.”

The alternative girl blushes, smiling up at Luke, “why thank you, no one’s really complimented me like that before.”

“It’s no problem at all! Say, you look like the type of girl who really likes dogs in sweaters on Instagram.”

“Oh my God, I love dogs in sweaters in Instagram!”

“They are just too cute, aren’t they? If you want, we could go discuss them at that bar seat over there?” Luke holds out his hand, ready for the girl to accept it. Behind him, Ashton and Michael stand there with their mouths wide open, completely baffled at the utter turn around Luke had undergone in the last ten minutes. Across the bar, Calum watches this scene take place dumbfounded. How the hell did Luke manage to pull that off?

“I would love to!” the girl says taking Luke’s hand, she turns to her two friends, “just call me when you guys are done talking to these two!”

Luke and the girl walk away, chatting animatedly at one another, pulling out their phones to share pictures of dogs. Ashton turns to Michael, astounded.

“I have never been so proud of our boy.” He whispers.

"Luke is absolutely _destroying_ tonight.” Ashton and Michael chuckle to themselves and turn to the two girls. Michael clears his throat, “speaking of destroying-“




Twenty minutes had gone by and Luke was now sitting alone at the bar, watching proudly as Michael and Ashton were successfully chatting up the two. He didn’t want to toot his own horn, but he’d like to think he absolutely crushed it in the wingman department.

It had taken fifteen minutes for the girl to get bored of Luke, moving on to some guy next to Luke who had a really interesting hat on, and Luke had to admit the hat guy was probably a lot more interesting. So Luke was now enjoying a drink to himself, watching his two friends do what they do best and sweet talk their way into some lives. Suddenly, Luke’s phone vibrates.

Calum: Don’t know how you managed to pull that off, but you did. Grats

Luke looks up and catches Calum’s glance from the opposite side of the bar, who smiles sheepishly and returns to his conversation with the bartender.

Luke: Tbh, don’t know how I pulled it off either.

Calum: Didn’t think you had it in you, thought you were gonna cry or something

Luke: hah. Very funny.

Luke: Care to share another drink with me in a bit? (I promise not to cry)

Calum doesn’t text back right away, and Luke begins to panic. Was he being too forward? Did Calum not want to have another drink with him?

Calum: I would love to : )

Luke looks down at his phone and smiles, looking up and sharing a smile with Calum.

Luke: Great, I’ll see you then : )

“Well if it isn’t the wingman of the century!” Luke hears from behind him, turning to see Michael and Ashton walk up to him.

“So, how’d it go?” He asks hopefully.

“As usual, Michael and I killed it.” Ashton say as he high fives Michael.

“Yeah, and we didn’t even have to lie and say that I have a life-threatening disease this time.”

“I’m proud of you boys.” Luke says smiling.

“ _You’re_ proud of _us_? Luke, you pulled an absolute 360 on us and deployed one of the best wingman games the two of us have ever seen. It was an honor to serve with you.”

“Well thanks guys, I’m just glad I could help.”

Ashton pats Luke on the back, “well, help you did Lucas. Because Mike and I are pretty set up for later tonight.”

“I’m happy for you guys,” Luke says. He then turns to look at Calum sitting alone, now done his conversation with the bartender.  Luke stands and straightens himself, “now if you’ll excuse me, I have a drink to share with hottie at the bar.”

“Go get em, tiger.”

Luke spins on his heels excitedly, and does some sort of “cool” walk as he makes his way towards Calum. He was on fire tonight; not only was he somewhat successfully flirting with some hot bad boy at some random bar, but he also successfully wingman’d his two best friends and only cried once tonight. If you asked him, he was having a fantastic night.

Calum looks up and waves at Luke, and not being one to deny a friendly greeting, Luke throws up his arm enthusiastically to wave back.

What Luke doesn’t anticipate, however, is making contact with someone as his arm flails upwards. He also doesn’t anticipate making the contact with the person’s face, who screams out in pain. And when Luke turns around, he most definitely doesn’t anticipate the person he hit to be about six inches taller, a lot more muscular, and most especially increasingly angry.

“Dude what the fuck?!” The hunk of mass screams at Luke.

“Uh... Luke?” Calum says cautiously, looking between Luke and the man rubbing his face.

Luke is frozen at this point, stuck between wanting to run away and wanting to curl into a ball on the floor and cry. 

"I'm fucked."

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Luke...  
> Thank you for the positive feedback! More to come hopefully soon!


	5. Chapter 5

“Oops? That’s all you have to say?! Oops?!” The angry man yells at Luke, who at this point is sweating with fear. Why did this kind of stuff happen to him?

“Hey, lay off pal,” he hears Calum yell from behind him, “He didn’t mean to.”

“Why don’t you mind your damn business, pansy?”

Luke can feel the fear in him boil into anger; no one talked to Calum that way!

“Ok, listen here sir I don’t think you shou-“ Luke is cut off as he walks towards the enraged stranger, tripping over his own feet. Putting his arms out, Luke balances out with the placement of his hands on a tough surface, only then realizing this tough surface was the angered man’s chest, and the angered man was now stumbling backwards. For fucks sake.

“Oh, so it’s a shoving fight is it?! Well how’s about I give you a taste of your own medicine, punk!”

“Luke look out!” Calum yells as he watches the man run at Luke.

Luke realizes he has about five seconds to defend himself, and in at least three of those seconds he contemplates falling to the ground and crying. What he suffices with, however, is simply ducking and hoping for the best. He waits a few seconds, realizing no contact was made and he was still alive. Carefully, Luke unwraps himself from his tight embrace, scanning the scene around him only to be met with plenty of wide eyes.

“What?..” he says, turning to Calum who stares back at him wide eyed. Calum looks from Luke and then down to the floor, and when Luke follows his eyes he notices that the man is now passed out on the floor, knocked out cold.

“W-what happened?” Luke asks, falling to the floor to check the condition of the man.

“Luke... he came running at you and you ducked so he went flying overtop you and hit his head on a bar stool.” Calum explains, crouching down to Luke’s level.

Luke can feel the anxiety in his chest rise. He was a dead man. This behemoth was sure to get up soon enough and kill him, maybe grab some buddies so that they could all share the fun. Luke wanted to cry, wanted to scream, but the sound of people talking distracts him.

“Dude, he knocked him out cold...”

“Did that tall, skinny guy just destroy the big one?”

“I am so turned on right now.”

“Wasn’t he the guy crying at the bar earlier?”

“Do you think he’ll let me buy him a drink?”

And amongst the mixture of criticism and praise, Luke gains a sense of pride. Yeah, yeah he _did_ knock out the bigger guy. And yeah, maybe he _was_ the guy who was crying at the bar but not anymore. He was a man now.

“Luke?” Calum calls out, watching as the initial fear on Luke’s face changes into a smug smirk.

Luke looks back at Calum, then stands and addresses the crowd. “Sorry to have disturbed you everyone, clearly I don’t know my own strength.” He says, flexing his right bicep to prove his point. Around him, the audience of gullible drunks surround him in awe, wanting to touch his arm, shake his hand, buy him a drink, or plead for mercy in fear of Luke beating them up. And Calum just remains squatting; was Luke being serious right now?

Calum loses sight of Luke as he’s swept away by the large crowd of people, drinks being handed to him and people attempting to embrace him.

“He can’t be serious.”




“Dude, Michael,” Ashton says trying to gain Michael’s attention. Michael was busy distracted by the crowd surrounding Luke, a feeling of jealousy and immense confusion overwhelming him.

“I just don’t understand what’s happening to Lukey tonight, I mean he’s a completely different person. First the number now the fight?! And just look at all the chicks around him! What’s he gonna do with all those chicks? He doesn’t even like chicks!”

Ashton sighs, “yeah, Michael, I know, but I think we have a bigger problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“Turn around.”

Michael turns and spots a head of platinum blonde hair, chatting up a guy who looks strikingly similar to Michael.

“Dude, no... is that...”

“Amber? Your ex, Amber? Overly possessive, created a shrine for you, Amber? Yup that’s her.”

Michael begins to panic, jumping behind Ashton in the process. “Dude, what is she doing here?!”

“It’s a bar? Probably getting a drink I’d assume...”

“You know what I mean! Fuck, if she sees me I swear to god I’ll-“

“Oh my god, Mikey?!” Amber screams, spotting Ashton and Michael from across the room.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.”

“Dude,” Ashton says, “you’re dead meat. You have to say hi.”

“Not necessarily I could fake a heart attack and you could lift me out of here.”

“No way! You’re way too heavy.”

“I’ll have you know I’ve been exercising!”

“Oh my God, Michael!!” Amber squeals, “and Ashton too! What a coincidence running into you two here.”

Michael and Ashton both cringe, “yeah...a coincidence...”

“So, Mikey, what have you been up to? Have you moved on yet from me?” Amber says flirtatiously, rubbing up and down Michael’s arm.

Michael quickly pulls his arm away, crossing both of them and standing sternly. “Actually, I have. Being single is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“Oh, you and your jokes,” Amber says, playfully pushing Michael, “and Ashton I see you still haven’t done anything about your hair?”

“I see you haven’t done anything about your face...” Ashton mumbles.

“What was that?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“Quiet as always, Ashton. Well, Michael, I’ll have you know I’ve been trying to move on from you but it’s been quite tough-“

“Oh has it?”

“Mhm, all I really have left to remember you by is all our good times and the memories we have together.”

“Haha... yeah...” Michael says uncomfortably. God, what was with this chick?!

“Oh and also, this one special picture I kept safe on my phone,” Amber says, pulling out her phone to show Ashton and Michael.

It could have been any other picture and the two boys would have just laughed it off, could have been anything else that would have been so insignificant, Michael would have just straight up walked away at that very moment. But when Michael is met face to... “face”, with a picture of his junk, he can’t help but become intrigued in the conversation.

“You...you still have this?”

“Of course I do! I need something to remember you by, don’t I?”

“Couldn’t you have just kept a locket... or a bear... or any other picture?” Ashton says in utter fear.

“Mmm I could have. But this picture means a lot to me. Well, I’ll see you boys later tonight!” Amber proclaims, skipping off in a different direction, leaving Michael and Ashton frozen in place.

“Dude...” Ashton says, turning to Michael.

Completely drained of all emotion, Michael turns to Ashton, mouth completely dry.

“I need to get that fucking picture back.”




Calum was staring at Luke, who was sitting at a booth surrounded by intrigued fans. To say that he was having the most interesting night of his life would be an understatement; somehow, this complete idiot had managed to get his’s number, wingman the shit out of his two idiot friends, and get into a bar fight all in one evening. And Calum would be lying if he said this didn’t make Luke more interesting to him, because admittedly no one had ever kept Calum so on his toes before. Right now, Calum was just waiting for Luke to say something to completely ruin his ruse or for him to get into another fight. Either option would be entertaining enough for Calum.

On the opposite end, Luke was having the time of his life. Usually not one for crowds or the company of many people, he was appreciating being smothered by adoring, drunk fans who saw him as this bar fighting entity. In truth, all he really did was duck and let the guy trip overtop him but at this point did the story really matter? People thought he was tough and he was getting free drinks so there was really no complaining. It was all too perfect.

“Excuse me?” A busty, brown haired girl standing in front of the booth says.

“Hello!” Luke says excitedly.

“Would you happen to be the guy who got into the fight earlier?” She asks, removing her rings and placing them in her purse.

Smiling bashfully, Luke replies, “Yes, that would be me!”

The girl giggles, “Could I have a hug by chance?”

“Of course!” Luke says, “I’m never one to deny a hug.”

Everyone shuffles out of the booth so that Luke can give this girl a hug. She stands before him smiling, waiting for Luke to extend his reach. As Luke is about to embrace her, however, she punches him in the face, leaving quite a nasty mark at that.

“Oh my God!” Luke yells, “what the hell is your problem?!”

“My _problem,_ is that you knocked out my boyfriend!” She says, kicking Luke in the balls before she walks away, “take that, ya jerk!”

Luke yelps out in pain, looking around him as all his “fans” disperse. “It...it was lovely meeting you too...” Luke crawls back into the booth, dejected. He should have known this would happen.




“Amber! Wait up!” Michael yells, chasing after the platinum blonde.

“Oh, Michael! What a pleasant surprise! Amber says with a cryptic smile.

“Yeah, surprise, whatever. Anyways, I was wondering if you wanted to get a drink?”

“Michael Clifford, are you courting me?” Amber says, once again rubbing Michael’s arm.

Michael laughs nervously, keeping in character, “ha ha... let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“Oh Michael, always the tease.”

“Yeah, tease, whatever. Could I see your phone for a second?” Michael says, getting straight to the punch.

“My phone? What do you need my phone for?”

“Uh...to take a sick selfie!”

“Well, if you’re gonna take one might as well take one of us together!” Amber says, pulling out her phone and turning on the camera. “Say, Amber!”

Amber snaps the picture and Michael snatches it out of her hands, “I just want to see if I look bad in the picture!”

“Michael Clifford, you couldn’t look bad in a picture of you tried.”

“You’d be surprised.” Moving his thumbs as quickly as he can, Michael scrolls through Amber’s camera roll in search of the devious picture.

“You’ve been looking at that picture for an awfully long time, Mikey.” Amber says, “I wanna see it too!”

“No!” Michael yells.

“Why not?”

“Because...because you look fat in it.”

“I look what in where?!”

“It’s not a flattering angle, is all! I’m doing you a favor!”

Michael spots the picture, glaring at him underneath his left thumb. Moving quickly, Michael deletes the picture, handing the phone back to Amber ecstatically.

“Good picture, lovely chatting, see you never!” Michael screams, turning around hastily.

“Hold on a minute!” Amber screams, “Why is this picture in my recently deleted album?”

Crap! Why did Steve Jobs resent him so?

“Uh... you see...”

“You tried to delete it, didn’t you?”

“Well... I mean...”

“Michael.”

Michael sighs, “ok fine, yes I tried to delete it.”

Amber looks at him, confused, “why would you do that?”

“Well... the truth is...I really don’t feel comfortable with you having that on your phone. I’m sorry. It’s weird. We’re not together anymore.”

Michael waits for Amber to lash out, but surprisingly she doesn’t. “Michael, if you wanted me to delete it, you could’ve just asked.”

“W-what?”

“Yeah... I mean I totally get it.”

“Y-you do?”

“Michael I’m not stupid, you know? It’s a risqué picture and I only kept it because I thought you’d be ok with it.”

“Did you really think I would be ok with you keeping a picture of my schlong on your phone? We’re not even together anymore!”

“I told you! It was a nice memory!” Amber sighs, “But I guess I’d rather your happiness than my memories.”

Michael pulls Amber into a hug, “thanks Amber.”

“No worries. Now let’s go buy me a drink like you asked hm?”

“Wait, what?”




Luke sits alone at the booth, one hand rubbing his bruised cheek and one rubbing his... bruised “downstairs”.

“Hey idiot, I brought you some ice.” Calum says, handing Luke two bags of ice and sitting next to him.

“Thanks...” Luke says, slight blush painting his cheeks.

“Don’t thank me. You’re an idiot for thinking you could pull that charade off.”

Luke sighs, “I know, I know... it’s just that... I got so angry when he called you out and I wanted you to think I was tough by defending you.”

“Y-you what?”

“Yeah... I mean I don’t mean to put you in an uncomfortable place but it just really pissed me off when he called you pansy.”

And in some weird, twisted way, Calum was sincerely touched. No one had ever tried to stick up for him before, and as much of an idiot Luke was, it was incredibly nice of him to think he was sticking up for Calum like that.

“W-well thanks, Luke.”

“No problem... although no offence but I’m not sure it was exactly worth getting my ass beat by some very tiny, angry woman.”

Calum giggles, “Dude she could have taken you easily.”

“Nu uh! She caught me off guard.”

“Do you want me to call her back here to settle the fight?”

“No! No! It’s ok!”

Calum smiles, “that’s what I thought. Listen, I’m gonna let you heal up a bit but don’t forget you’re meeting me later for a drink.” Calum shuffles out of the booth and walks away.

Luke smiles to himself, “wouldn’t miss it.”




Ashton had lost sight of Luke and Michael and was now sitting at a table by himself. Somehow, this night was turning out to be the most eventful night out he’d had in a long time; Luke getting some hot dude’s number, him wingmaning them, Michael running into his ex, Luke getting into a fight, Ashton stealing and eating an entire plate of nachos from the table over in the last twenty minutes. These were all very uncommon things for the trio to be experiencing. Ashton looks up to see Luke walking up to the table to sit down with a bag of ice on his eye and on his crotch, and he spots Michael walking up to them with red lipstick all over his face and his hair an absolute mess. Both boys sit down silently.

“So.... do you two wanna talk about it?”

“No.” “Fuck off.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halfway through the night! Chapters will be getting slightly longer as we're gonna start seeing more of what happens as the night draws to a close. Expect a few more sub-plots like the one from this chapter for Ashton and Michael! (But obviously Cake is still the main focus and we'll see a lottttttttttttttttt more Cake interaction in the next few chapters I promise) 
> 
> Also: Oh Luke...


	6. Chapter 6

Staring at himself in the mirror, Michael groans. Angrily, he glares at the lipstick marks on his face, using as many paper towels as he can to scrub off Amber’s lipstick. That girl was an absolute psycho. But besides this minor setback, Michael was in fact having a very good night. A fantastic night, even. Albeit, his nights out weren’t usually this eventful so this change of pace was nice. It was a good feeling watching Luke come out of his shell, because truth be told Michael was actually very concerned about him. And hitting on chicks with Ashton was always a good time, the two of them knowing exactly what to say and how to play off of each other. Not to mention he was currently up to 8 numbers, so he was pretty set in terms of going home satisfied. It was a little bit after midnight so the bar would be closing in two hours, and Michael needed to ensure his two boys were as successful as he was. He would never admit this to them, sober or drunk, but he loved them both. Loved them a lot.

Scrubbing vigorously at the last lipstick mark on his cheek, Michael tosses the used paper towel and rushes out the door, smiling as he sees Ashton and Luke deep in conversation.

“What’s the good word, gentlemen?” He asks, taking his rightful place at their table.

“Well, Ashton’s talking to me about the hot waitress over there.” Luke says, pointing to a short, blonde haired waitress walking quickly through the bar.

“Dude, you’ve been pining after that chick for months.” Michael states.

Ashton sighs, “I know, I know, I just don’t know how to talk to her, you know? She just seems so cool and I’m just some 26 year old who works at a Starbucks and sings.”

“Hey,” Luke says, placing a hand on Ashton’s shoulder, “there’s nothing wrong with working at Starbucks. You provide many people with the drinks they need day in and day out and the fact that she also serves drinks probably means something. Fate, even.”

“Yeah, but I doubt she’d think anything of it.”

“Ash, you’ve gotta give it a try man.” Michael says, attempting to jump into the conversation.

“You know... usually I’d reject the idea but seeing as you two have been having such... interesting nights, why not go for it right?”

Michael pats Ashton on the back, “that’s the spirit! So, what’s our game plan? Fake a disease? 3 compliments 1 insult? Oh! The “I have a cute dog you should see him some time” line?”

Ashton clears his throat, “uh... actually Mikey... I was gonna ask Luke to help me with this one.”

“Wait, what!?”

“Wait...what?”

“Yeah....” Ashton says, uncomfortably, “I mean it’s nothing against you at all! Nothing in the slightest! I just think that Luke can help me with staying calm and being true to my feelings and what not...”

“That’s so beautiful, Ash.”

“What?!” Michael says, offended. “You’re picking Hemmings over me?! Ash, we’re a team, dude!”

“I know! I know! But this isn’t just any other chick this time I actually need to do my best at being me.”

“Do your best at being you? Is this some sort of joke?!”

“Michael, you’re being very rude.” Luke says, trying to reason with Michael.

“You shut your mouth, Hemmings!”

“Michael I’m so-“

“You know what, Ashton, go get your waitress wifey! I hope you two have a wonderful life together of serving drinks and.... and... being a good couple and what not.” Michel says angrily, standing to his feet. “and Luke... your hair has looked better.”

“Michael!” “What are you serious I worked so long on it.”

“I don’t need you two anymore!” Michael says dramatically, turning to walk away.

“Micahel!” Ashton yells, “where are you going?!”

“To find two friends who appreciate me for my loveable laid back attitude, my impeccable body, and my off-putting but slightly appealing smell. I wish you two boys luck.” Michael turns and walks away, hurt in his voice evident.

Luke and Ashton turn to each other and sigh, man could Michael be dramatic.

“Do you think he’ll be ok?” Luke asks, concerned for the feelings of his friend.

“Who, Mikey? Of course. He’s probably just had too many fruity drinks and it’s throwing his system completely off.”

“You don’t think he’ll find new friends, will he?”

“What? No, Michael? Give it like 5 minutes and he’ll come crawling ba-“

“Oh you two are a riot!” Michael says overly loud. Luke and Ashton turn and see Michael sitting with two other guys, two who look almost too overjoyed to have Michael with them.

“Well, that didn’t take long.”




Calum sits at the bar, his usual spot for the evening. He was through with dealing with everything around him, and was perfectly content with taking a moment to himself to just enjoy a drink and watch some football (not the American kind; he couldn’t be bothered with that).

Suddenly, a waitress walks up to him, handing him a shot.

“A rocky mountain bear fucker.” The woman says, placing the shot in front of Calum.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t order this.” Calum says politely.

“Oh, this shot is from those guys,” the waitress informs him, pointing to a group of hairy men sitting in the far corner of the bar.

Calum looks to where she’s pointing and groans. Oh God no, not bears!

“Ugh, of course it had to be them. God, I hate bears.”

“Bears?” The waitress asks, confused.

Calum sighs, “a group of gay men who prefer to let their body hair grow and grow, and think that guys like me are twinks who are into that through some reverse psychology aspect just because I’m hairless.” Calum turns to the direction of the bears and yells “yeah, I’m not into bears, guys. I’m just hairless! Haven’t shaven a day in my life!”

The bears respond to this by hooting and hollering at Calum, who groans and rolls his eyes. “Ok you know what.” Calum stands angrily and marches towards the group of bears. He’ll be damned if these bears ruin his night.

“Ok listen up, bears. “Calum says angrily, “I get that you need to come to these bars to find young, twinky guys to hit on to boost your already low enough self-esteems, but I am not, a twink. I will never be, a twink. Moreover, I will never, ever in my life be interested in a bear. I don’t even like real bears! They’re just pointless and attack picnics and get merchandised in shows where they’re given ridiculously dumb names like Pooh or Yogi. If the world got rid of all bears right now, I’d just go back to exactly the way my life was. I wouldn’t give less of a shit. I’m sure the motorcycle industry would take a major hit, and grindr would lose an entire untouched sanction of its users but I’m sure we would all live happily. And never again would we have to watch you parade your hairy bodies around, unaware of the fact that winter coats go out of season when it’s no longer cold outside. So why don’t you take your rocky mountain bear fucker and suck it. What do you have to say about that?” Calum says, bitchy tone in his voice still evident.

One of the bears stands up and looks at him, “so... do you shave every Tuesday or every Thursday?” All the bears around him erupt into a fit of laughter. Calum stands, dejected.

“Fucking bears.”




“Luke I don’t think I can do this...” Ashton says, panicking as he and Luke walk up to the waitress.

“Ash, you’re just over thinking things. You just have to tell her how you feel and she’ll fall for your honesty and your sense of self.”

“Luke, I know I picked you over Michael but you’ve got to give me something else to work with here.”

“Um... do you have any good pick up lines?”

“Pick up lines work on no one, Luke.”

“What are you talking about, I love pick up lines!”

“My point exactly.”

Luke sighs stopping in his tracks and turning to Ashton , “Ashton. I’m serious. You’re honestly just looking for excuses right now not to talk to her, the same excuses you probably make over and over and over again. But what are these excuses going to accomplish? You’ll just come back here and try again and then make the same lame excuses. Look,” Luke puts his hands on Ashton’s shoulders, “when we first came here tonight, I didn’t think I’d even be here still at this point. I was fairly set on staying at home and eating my body weight in ice cream, cookies, and chips again, but you, Michael, and the four pounds I’ve gained in the last week all agreed that it was time for me to stop and to go out again. And if I’m being honest, maybe after tonight I’m ready to move on, but more likely maybe I’m still not... but at least I gave it a chance, right?”

Ashton stares into Luke’s eyes, touched by his honesty and willingness to listen to his and Michael’s advice. “God... Luke, you’re right. You’re so right. I _do_ keep making excuses... I guess I just don’t want to face rejection, you know?”

“I know, dude. Trust me.”

Ashton laughs, “Sorry. Thanks, Luke. I think I’m gonna go give it a try.”

Luke embraces Ashton, “I’m proud of you.”

Ashton releases their embrace and turns to walk away, only to turn back abruptly. “Hold on.... you’ve gained four pounds in a week?”

“If you make any fat jokes or stare at my stomach longer than five seconds I’ll kill you.”

Ashton laughs, “Ok, whatever you say, Porky.”

“How dare you I’m very sensitive!” Luke yells, turning on his heels and walking away.

Ashton takes a deep breath and watches as the waitress moves from behind the bar and out to distribute drinks. He could do this.




“Oh man, Michael, you are the funniest!” The blonde, Neil, says to him.

“Yeah, dude, you’re a riot!” The other boy, Liam, shouts.

“What can I say gentlemen, my jokes are almost as hot at my hair.”

The two boys erupt into laughter, “it’s ‘cause you have red hair!” Liam says through fits of laughter.

Michael smiles to himself, “you know I’ve gotta say, boys, feels really good to have my craft appreciated.”

“Dude of course!”

“I must admit though,” Neil proclaims, “it is kind of weird hanging with a third person again.”

Michael scoffs, “what do you mean, _again_?”

Liam sighs, “Well you see, we used to have this third friend. His name was Zach.”

“What happened to him?”

“He died.”

Michael spits up his drink, “dude... shit I’m so-“

Liam cracks a smile, “I’m totally kidding.”

“Oh you asshole!” Michael says through laughter.

“Sorry! Sorry! Couldn’t resist!”

“But really, we had to ditch him.” Neil adds in.

“Why’s that? Wasn’t funny enough?”

“Nah...he was just too... dramatic.”

“Dramatic?”

“Yeah, dude was super dramatic,” Liam states, “one time he made a scene at a club because Neil and I were talking to chicks without him. Can you believe that? Like we have lives of our own, you know.”

“Yeah...” Michael says, uncomfortably.

“We just couldn’t deal with someone who would blow up over nothing, but you can’t really blame us can you?” Neil asks.

Michael doesn’t respond, instead he stares over at Luke and Ashton who are chatting happily with each other.

“Michael?”

Swiftly, Michael stands to his feet and starts walking back towards his boys.

“Michael, where are you going?!”

“You owe us 8 dollars for that drink!”

Ignoring all the sound around him, Michael walks up to Ashton and Luke, who stop mid conversation when Michael arrives.

“Hi....” Michael says awkwardly.

Luke and Ashton look at each other, “uh... hey Mikey....”

“How’d it go.... with the waitress and what not?”

Ashton smiles sincerely, “it went really well. Breanne’s break is in ten minutes so we’re gonna hang out.”

Michael smiles back, “I’m really happy for you, Ash.”

“I’m really happy too...”

There’s a silence between the three of them.

“Listen, Mikey we’re really sor-“

Michael grabs Ashton and Luke and pulls them upwards, embracing them both in a tight hug.

“I’m sorry I overreacted! I just got so jealous and felt left out and I really love you guys and these last twenty minutes have been absolute hell without you and let’s never fight again.”

“Agreed.” They both say back.

The three boys sit at their table, smiling at each other widely.

“I really am happy for you, dude,” Michael says turning to Ashton.

“Thanks bro.”

“And Luke,” Michael says, turning to Luke, “you know... now that I’m looking at you have you put on a pound or five?”

“Oh my God!” Luke says exasperatedly, walking off towards the direction of the bar.

Ashton fist bumps Michael, “good to have you back, Mike.”

“Good to be back.”




Calum is wedged between two bears, whose names he has completely forgotten.

“I think I understand now... the hair is all for masculinity because you oppose the feminine stereotype that gays are given!”  

“Now you’re getting it, Booboo.” A bear says, cheers-ing Calum.

“You know, I always thought you guys were just lazy, smelly people but you’re so much more than that. You are the entire heart and soul of the LGBT movement.”

All the bears around Calum respond happily.

“I mean seriously, you guys act so independently; you don’t rely on the approval of others, or abide to the ways of stereotypes, and you most definitely don’t worship that trashbag Lady Gaga.”

Suddenly, all the bears around Calum grumble in anger. “What did you say about Queen Gaga?!” One shouts at him.

Calum scoffs, “you guys can’t be serious. I mean, her music isn’t even that great and all she does is parade around being weird like oooo look at you! You’re suddenly an icon for dressing in meat!”

“I think you should leave, Calum.” Another bear says to him.

“Really? After all the things I said about you guys no longer existing, I make one comment about Lady Gaga and I’m out?”

None of the bears respond, glares prominent as they watch as Calum struts away.

“Whatever, I’m out of here.”

“You aren’t any twink of ours, anymore.”

“I was never a fucking twink in the first place!!!!!”




“Four pounds is not a lot of weight,” Luke mumbles to himself, “I’m just big boned and I'm super bloated from all these drinks tonight.” On the path of his dramatic and angry exit, Luke bumps into someone. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry!”

Calum looks up from his own bout of anger and sees Luke, anger fading away as Luke stares at him apologetically, “dude, it’s ok.”

Luke eases up seeing that it’s Calum. “Have you been having a super weird night too?”

Calum positively jumps at Luke’s statement, “dude! Yes! I just spent the last ten minutes talking to a bunch of fucking bears.”

“Oh, dude, I hate bears.”

“Wait, you hate bears?”

“Yeah! They just look so lazy and smelly and they definitely like Lady Gaga way more than they let on.”

“Yes! Exactly! God what is with people liking her so much?”

“Dude, Just Dance was honestly her prime then after that it was downhill.”

“Oh my God, I totally agree.” Calum says through his wide smile. Luke was getting better by the second. “Do you... wanna sit and have that drink with me now?” He asks, doing his best to keep his cool.  

Luke smiles at Calum, all nerves around the boy completely gone.

“Yeah... yeah I’d love to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is veeeerrrryyyyy Cake heavy so watch yourselves! Also idk if you've noticed but most of the OC's names aren't exactly random when you think about who they interact with and their context. (Mchael's ex AMBER.... meeting friends NEIL and LIAM who "ditched" dramatic friend ZACH....... Ashton and BREANNE..........) 
> 
> I do what I can. 
> 
> Hope you guys are enjoying reading as much as I am writing!


	7. Chapter 7

“Would you just look at our boy, Mikey?” Ashton says, as he and Michael share drinks and watch Luke and Calum talk. “You know, Luke might actually pull this off.”

“I’ve gotta hand it to him, Calum is quite the catch.”

“I know, right? Who knew Luke would be his type?”

“I mean admittedly Luke is a very attractive man.”

“Dude, he’s got your laugh.”

“What? Are you inane, Ash, there’s no way he- oh my God he has my laugh.”

“It’s a little... eerie...” Ashton says, as he and Michael cock their heads to the side looking at Luke. Finishing his drink, the long haired boy slams it down on the table. “Ok, time for me to go meet Breanne.”

“You nervous?”

“A little... but you know, might as well give it a shot.”

“Atta boy, you go meet your girl- where are you meeting her anyways?”

“On the roof, I believe.”

“Ooo romantic!”

“Shut it, you. Alright, I’ll check in soon.” Ashton walks off towards the back of the bar, going through the emergency exit and up the stairs.

“Great! Well I’ll just... sit here by myself then...” Michael says to no one in particular, as he looks round the bar for something to do. His gaze falls on a group of girls making flirtatious stares at him, and Michael knows exactly where he’s gonna be.

“Game time, Clifford.”




“I can’t believe you like All Time Low too!” Luke says gleefully, smiling brightly at Calum.

“Dude, of course! Damned if I Do Ya is still my favorite song to listen to on the daily.”

“So you mean to tell me you like All-American Rejects, Blink, Green Day, MCR, AND All Time Low?!”

“I’m many things, Luke, but I’m not a liar.” Calum says with a smile.

“Sorry, it’s just so weird talking to someone who has the same music taste as me.”

“Well I guess you’ve just been talking to the wrong people?”

Luke smiles, “yeah... yeah I guess I have.”

Things with Calum were running very smoothly; or at least, smoother than Luke thought they would have. If someone had told Luke at the start of his night he would be spending his time talking to a super hot random dude with a similar music taste, fashion sense, as well as overall life aspiration, he would probably not believe you. But here he was, hitting things off with Calum and completely infatuated in the connection the two were making. And there was the small voice in the back of his mind reminding him that earlier, Calum said he didn’t want to make relationships with boys he meets at bars, but Luke was sure there were exceptions.

And he was probably right, at least. Because at this point, Calum was falling for Luke quicker than he anticipated. Unexpected, yes, but not at all awful.

“So, tell me about your two idiot friends.”

“Michael and Ashton? Well, we’ve known each other since we were kids; Ashton’s mom and mine were friends in school and Michael was my neighbour. A few set up hangouts by our parents and many years later, here we are.”

“Well, they definitely seem like great guys.”

“They are, they’ve been really great since the...”

“You don’t have to say it if you don’t want to.”

Luke sighs, “I’m sorry... it’s just... so weird to think it happened.... and that I’m just here now, you know?”

“It’s not necessarily a bad thing that you’re here, though.” Calum reasons, flirtatiously.

“Yeah I guess.... I’m sorry you probably don’t want to hear about this.”

Truthfully, Calum didn’t. He’d prefer not to hear about Luke’s ex, but if it was something Luke needed to get off his chest, he supposed he could make an exception for Luke _again_.

“You’re still going through it, I get it.”

Once again, Luke sighs, “you know, it’s crazy. I mean, I’m still surprised I’m here. This is probably the craziest thing I’ve ever done.”

“Going to a bar is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?” Calum questions, eyebrow raised harshly.

“What? Oh, no! I’ve been to bars before,” Luke says defensively, “I’ve just never gone out with... intentions.”

“Intentions?”

“You know... to do things to help me...move on...”

“Oh...”

“Yeah...”

There’s a silence between them; albeit, not awkward, just a silence.

“Well, maybe tonight’s the night things change.”

Luke looks at Calum, “what do you mean?”

“Well... you said you’ve never done anything too crazy, right? What if tonight’s the night you just let loose a little? Literally and metaphorically move on to a life of freedom and trying weird shit?”

Luke contemplates this for a second, “do you really think I could do it?”

“Yeah, dude, I’ll help you. I stopped giving a shit years ago.”

That wasn’t as reassuring as Luke assumed Calum thought it would be.

“Um... ok... how do I be crazy?”

“Do you really know nothing?”

“I’m sorry! Ok!”

Calum sighs, “ok.... well we can start by doing some rebellious stuff.”

“What count as rebellious stuff?”

“You know, anything that goes against the rules. Public nudity, stealing something, murder, the works.”

“Um... I guess I’ve never stolen something before?”

Calum scoffs, “You’ve never stolen anything before?”

“No, I always believed in karma and didn’t ever want anything of mine to be stolen so I never stole anything.”

Calum hums in understanding, “ok, well then let’s steal something!”

“Wait, are you serious?”

“Yeah, dude.” Calum scans the bar, searching for something for Luke to snag, “you see that drink over there?” Calum says, pointing with his eyes towards a drink put down next to an oblivious man.

“I see it...”

“Good. Go take it.”

“What?!”

“You heard me. You want to be crazy and move on, right? Go steal that drink and bring it back to me. I want another drink.”

“I-I could always just buy you another one?”

“No, Luke, I want that one. And you have to go get it for me.”

“Wh-what if I don’t want to?”

Calum stares at Luke sternly, “Luke.”

“Calum.”

“You want to be crazy, don’t you?”

Luke sighs, standing, “save my seat.” Luke starts to move across the bar, not at all stealthily.

Calum laughs to himself, watching Luke walk awkwardly across the bar.

“God, he’s an idiot.”




Ashton was climbing the stairs two steps at a time, deciding that nerves weren’t gonna get the best of him this time. Reaching the top of the stairs, Ashton pushes the heavy door open, looking around him and taking in the Sydney air. Eyes scanning to the skyline in front of him, Ashton spots Breanne with her back to him, staring into the night sky. Not wanting to alarm her, he walks up to her side, joining her to stare into the distance.

“Hi there,” he says nonchalantly, “enjoying the view?”

Breanne turns to him and smiles, “you bet. This is my favorite thing to look at.”

Ashton nods, “I can see how it can be. This city is breathtaking.”

“You live here long?”

“My whole life.”

“You’re lucky. I just moved here from LA.”

“Really?” Ashton asks curiously, “what brings you overseas?”

“Boredom, mostly. Needed a new environment.”

Ashton sighs, “I feel that.”

Breanne turns to Ashton and smiles, “are you having a good night?”

Ashton follows suite and turns to Breanne, “it’s better now.”

Suddenly, the sound of a door slamming shocks them both. Turning quickly, Ashton and Breanne run towards the door and try to open it, only to find it won’t move.

“Does this... does this door usually lock?”

“No...” Breanne says shakily.

“Fuck.”




Luke had been gone for about five minutes, and Calum was starting to get worried. Maybe he was asking too much of Luke? He was such an innocent little shit, and what if he got caught?

“Calum!” Luke yells, out of breath running up toward the bar.

“L-Luke!” Calum says, surprised, “did you uh... did you get it?”

Luke looks down at his feet, “well... not exactly?”

Calum sighs, “Luke it’s ok-“

“I got something else.” Luke says, nervous stare turning into a smile.

“Something... else?”

Luke slams a pitcher down in front of Calum, “tada!” he yells, excitement beaming like a 5 year old.

Calum stares at the pitcher, shocked. “You mean to tell me you stole this?!”

Luke nods, “yup! Right off a dude’s table when he left to the bathroom!”

"Luke that’s insane!”

“That’s not all!”

“Not all?”

Luke reaches into his back pocket, pulling out a wallet.

Calum look at it, curiously, “I’m not following.”

Luke looks at Calum, cheekiest grin making its way across his face, “that’s not _my_ wallet.”

Realization hits Calum like a ton of bricks. What. The. Fuck.

“YOU STOLE SOMEONE’S WALLET?!”

Luke responds to this by throwing up his arms excitedly, “I KNOW, RIGHT!”

“Luke, this is insane!”

“I know, right!”

“No! Luke! Like, bad insane!”

Luke slowly lowers his arms, “w-what?”

“You can’t just steal someone’s wallet, dude! You could get fucking arrested for crying out loud!”

Luke stammers, “But isn’t that the point of being rebellious?! The fear of getting caught?!”

 “Yeah! But you steal little things like a 6 dollar drink not someone’s entire fucking wallet, Luke!”

Luke stares at Calum, utterly embarrassed. Calum returns this stare by looking at Luke, doe eyes staring into Calum’s chocolate eyes. And there’s something about Luke’s stare, the innocence behind it and the utter child-like sincerity that causes something in Calum to break. But not a bad, break, like a “what the fuck has my night become and why is this idiot in front of me” kind of break. And Calum laughs. He just starts to laugh because he has no clue what is happening to his life but if he’s being honest, he kind of likes it.

In response to this, Luke only becomes more embarrassed. “W-why are you laughing at me?” Calum laughs even harder, and the tint of red on Luke’s cheeks intensify. “S-stop laughing at me, Calum!”

Calum is positively doubled over in laughter, baffled at the utter ridiculousness that is Luke Hemmings.

“Luke-“ Calum says through his laughter.

“What?” Luke responds, not exactly harsh but not too kind either.

“You are the cutest thing I’ve ever met.”

And now Luke’s cheeks are red again, but for an entirely different reason.

“Y-you think I’m cute?” Why was he asking? Why was he so awkward?

Calum stifles his laughter. Shit. Did he just call Luke cute?

“I mean... I’ve never met someone so innocent and so stupid and so childlike and so...”

“So....?”

Calum sighs, “Adorable.”

Luke grins, “ha ha, you think I’m cute.”

And now Calum’s embarrassed. “Shut up. I could probably kill you.”

“You could,” Luke teases, “but you probably won’t because you think I’m cute.”

“You’re annoying.”

“I think you meant to say adorable.”

“Would you just go return that pitcher and wallet?!”

“That would be pretty cute of me, wouldn’t it?”

“No, it would be life saving because if that guy doesn’t kick your ass I probably will.”

Luke raise his hands defensively, “alright alright I’ll go return the stuff. I’ll be back, Calcium.”

Calum watches Luke walk away, his jaunty strut only a further tease meant for Calum. And admittedly, Luke was kind of a dork, a little annoying, and a complete idiot. But there was just something about him, something that was driving Calum absolutely crazy.

 Calum sighs, “God, he’s an adorable idiot.”




Michael wasn’t sure how he ended up amongst a bunch of super drunk girls, celebrating their friends 21st birthday but here he was. And you would think he would be having a better time, but seeing as none of these girls could even communicate, let alone stand, he was finding conversation to be quite stale. Currently, he was leaning up against a wall, talking to some chick about her workout routine.

“I mean, I just want something that will make my butt look better, you know?” She says, rubbing at her backside flirtatiously.

“You want to work on... your butt?” Michael says, eyes glued to her hand movement. “That butt, is perfect, I would eat dinner, off of your butt.”

“Oh Mitchell, stop, you’re too much,” she yells, slapping his arm.

“Yeah... Mitchell...”

“Oh my God, Marcus!” A girl screams at him, “can you open my beer!”

“These names are just getting further and further away...” Michael mumbles.

Using his palm, Michael easily opens the girl’s drink, taking a sip before she notices. He hands her the drink, and she smiles at him.

“You are the best, Mario.”

“Aren’t I just?” Michael says sarcastically. The girl walks away and Michael looks beyond her, in hopes of finding someone or something more interesting.

 What he is met with, however, is a lot more different.

It’ a sight that could probably knock Michael out at that very moment, a sight that shakes his very core as a hand moves slowly to cover his mouth.

“No. No no no no no no.” He says, in a panic.

Suddenly, Michael feels his pocket vibrate. He picks it up, eyes still piercing at the image before him.

H-hello?” He says with a shakey breath.

“Mikey! I’ve been calling you for like the last half hour where the hell have you been?!”

“B-busy....”

Ashton sighs, “whatever, look me and Bre are trapped on the roof can you open the door for us?”

Michael doesn’t respond, still enamoured by what he hopes his eyes are fooling him with.

“Michael!”

“Yeah! Roof! I’m coming I’m coming!” Michael yells, hanging up the phone in the process.

This was gonna need dealing with, but first he needed to save Ashton.




“Hello?! Mike? Mikey! Michael I swear to God if you hung up on me.” Ashton yells into his phone. It’s only a few moments later he accepts the inevitable truth that Michael had hung up on him. “That boy is dead when he gets here.”

“I’m really sorry,” Breanne starts, “for getting you into this.”

“Are you kidding?” Ashton says calmly, “I really don’t mind.”

Breanne sighs, leaning onto Ashton as he sits next to her beside the door. “I see you come in a lot, you know.”

Ashton is taken aback, “y-you do?”

“Yeah... I mean you’re always here with your friend Michael and your other blond friend.”

“Yeah, yeah that’s us,” Ashton confirms, “I didn’t think you’d ever notice us.”

“How could I not? You guys always seem to be the life of the party,” Breanne says with a giggle.

“We’re known to have a good time.” Ashton smiles at her, “I always notice you working when I’m here too.”

“My friends always tell me you look at me,” Breanne admits, “but I always thought they were joking around with me.”

“What?” Ashton asks, confused, “why would you think they’re joking?”

Breanne sighs, “Because I’m just a waitress at a bar in the heart of Sydney. I’m not exactly very interesting or outlandish.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Ashton practically yells, “that’s loads interesting... seeing as I work as a barista at Starbucks.”

“You work at Starbucks?”

“It’s dumb, I know...”

“No, no it’s really not. I love Starbucks.”

Ashton smiles, “well I love this bar.”

The two of them look at each other, moonlight reflecting off of their respective eyes. Ashton leans in for the kiss, months of nerves far behind him. He is interrupted, however, by the door slamming into his back.

“Ow!”

“Ash!” Michael yells, pulling him up, “Ash we’ve got a problem!”

“Michael!” Ashton yells at him.

“Ashton I’m not kidding this is bad. Really bad.”

Ashton scans Michael’s face for a hint of a joke, but when he sees none he begins to worry. “Ok, ok if it really means this much to you-“

“It does! We have to go!” Michael yells, running back down the stair.

Ashton turn to Breanne, “listen I’m sorry about him but I guess I-“

“Hey,” She says, placing a hand on Ashton’s bicep, “it’s ok. He did save us after all.”

Ashton smiles at her, “I’ll meet you at closing?”

Breanne leans up and presses a quick kiss to his lips, “wouldn’t miss it.”

“Ashton, let’s go!” Michael yells, running back to grab Ashton by the arm and pull him downstairs.

“Listen Mikey I’m very appreciative of you saving us but you really could’ve given me more time.”

“Not possible, Ash.”

Ashton scoffs, “Why not?”

Michael and Ashton reach the bottom of the stairs, entering the bar once more. With a shakey hand, Michael points towards the bar.

“That’s why.”

Ashton stares, eyes wide and full of fear.

“Oh God. No.”




“Wait, so _you_ sing too?”

“Yeah, dude, I also play bass now and then.”

“Why does everyone I know sing and play an instrument?!”

“Maybe it’s God’s way of telling you to start a band.”

“Hmm... maybe.”

Calum and Luke’s conversation is interrupted by Michael and Ashton, running up to them in a panic. The two of them look at panicked boys, who are pressed tightly side by side to each other in some sort of wall formation.

“Hi guys...” Luke say, confused, “I don’t think I’ve introduced you guys.”

“Hi I’m Calum.” Calum says in a friendly manner.

“Hi Calum lovely to meet you! Is that a new shirt? Anyway we gotta go.” Michael says, attempting to pull Luke out of his and Calum’s newly acquired booth.

“What? Why?” Luke asks, annoyed.

“Trust us Luke we have to leave.” Ashton says flatly.

“Ok what’s going on here?” Calum asks, equally as annoyed.

“We can’t tell you.”

“Why not? I’m trying to talk to Luke here.”

“Well you can talk to Luke somewhere else just not here.”

“Michael you’re being really weird,” Luke states, “and why are you two pressed so tightly together?”

“I thought you told me they were straight?”

“We _are_ straight!” Michael yells, “We just like to stand really close sometimes. Like right now. Speaking of right now, we have to leave. Right now. So say your goobyes, Luke.”

“Michael I’m not gonna-“

And then Luke sees... sees _it_. Sitting at the bar, laughing it up with.... with...

Luke stops fighting back, becoming a dead weight as all emotion and color drains from his face. The look on Luke’s face clues Ashton and Michael in; Luke’s seen him. Michael releases his grip on Luke, readying himself for what’s about to happen next.

“Ok, what’s going on here?!” Calum shouts. He didn’t like being in the dark.

Ashton and Michael deflate; there was no avoiding this now.

“A-A-A-Adam...” Luke stutters.

Calum looks at Luke, a mixture of anger and confusion, “who the fuck is Adam?!”

Luke looks into Calum’s eyes, fear evident on his face.

“M-m-m-my ex. Adam. He’s here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun.................(also do I even need to point out Luke's cuteness anymore?)
> 
> 3 chapters left!!!!!! Things are getting pretty tight but I'm hoping you guys are enjoying!


	8. Chapter 8

There were many things in life Luke Hemmings was prepared for. In the fourth grade, his mom made him carry an extra shirt with him because, knowing Luke, he was probably prone to spilling grape juice all over his nice clothes. So when said grape juice squirted all over him, Luke was more than ready to change into a not sticky shirt. When they had fire drills, Luke was the only person to know the procedures and know where to go and who to contact. When he got to High School, Luke was the only person who had done the reading _before_ anything was assigned, and he was also the only person to study for the final without even being told what would be on it. He had a first aid kit in his backpack, and an extra set of headphones in there as well for when he would forget. To put it simply, Luke was essentially prepared for anything that life had to throw at him.

But when he sees Adam at the bar with the very boy he cheated on Luke with, it’s like a whole different playing field that Luke definitely knows he’s not prepared for. Adam is the same as he remembers; tall with ashy blonde hair, sharp jaw line, professional clothing, and hazels eye that could kill. And Connor is still the short, brown haired douche who slept with his then fiancé. He hadn’t stopped staring since he spotted Adam, laughing and joking around with Connor like the world didn’t exist around him. And maybe it was all the alcohol he was consuming, or maybe it was simply his anger and sadness mixed together, but Luke was pretty sure he was going to be sick.

“ _That’s_ your ex-fiancé?!” Calum yells, eyeing down Adam harshly.

“Yup... that’s him...” Michael confirms.

“Luke-“

“What, Ash?” Luke says, eyes still glued to Adam.

“Are... you ok?”

“I can’t answer that.”

“Ok.”

“This is a total nightmare...” Luke says, finally lowering his eyes and placing his head in his hands.

“So....what’s the plan? Do you want to leave, Luke?”

“No, he’s not leaving.” Calum proclaims.

“Cal-“

“No, Luke. You can’t run from this forever. I told you tonight’s the night you gotta be a man, right? Well this is the perfect way to embody that.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“ _You_ are going to make your ex wish he never left you in the first place. We’re gonna destroy him.”

“I like the way he thinks.” Michael interjects.

“How do you expect Luke to do that?” Ashton asks curiously.

“Ok, you two, go occupy fuckface-“

“His name’s Adam.”

“Oh, sorry. Go occupy _fuckface_ and look for any weaknesses. Maybe he’s low on income and living with his parents because Luke’s name was on the lease? Maybe he has a tiny penis? Who knows. Go find one.”

“Roger.” “Got it.”

“Perfect,” Calum says, as Ashton and Michael walk off, “Now, I’m gonna teach you how to destroy a man.”




“Dude I know circumstances are sort of weird right now but I kind of really like Calum.” Michael states as he and Ashton plan out their attack.

“Me too, but I definitely wish we weren’t dealing with this right now.”

“Ditto, the look on Luke’s face killed me.”

“We have to find some kind of weakness, dude, for Luke’s sake.”

“Alright, do we do the ‘bump into him and pretend we didn’t know it was him’ or the classic ‘talk super loudly and wait for him to approach us’?”

“I like the first one,” Ashton declares, “mostly because it means there’s a chance I get to shoulder check him.”

“Fair enough, fair enough. Alright, let’s do this”

Walking side by side, Ashton and Michael glide across the bar to where Adam is standing talking to Connor. The two of them are lost in conversation, as Adam flirtatiously rubs up Connor’s arm while he blushes. Fuck these two.

“Game time.” Asthon declares, as he sticks out his shoulder and moves passed Adam.

“Oh, sorry!” Ashton yells, turning and coming face to face with Adam, “oh my God, Adam?”

“Ashton.... and Michael...” Adam says, unimpressed, “is uh.... is Luke here?”

“Luke?” Michael says ignorantly, “couldn’t say, he’s probably out banging a bunch of dudes.”

Ashton internally groans. Smooth, Michael.




“Ok, so I’m gonna teach you how to totally destroy your ex.” Calum explains, “you have to start by talking really highly about yourself and you have to make super back-handed compliments like ‘oh my God I’m so glad you’re finally eating again’ or ‘wow I love your shirt, I think my dad had it once but he threw it away’; you know, something that makes him think that you’re being super nice but in reality you’re just dragging him in the dirt. And then you-“

“What if I don’t want to hurt him?” Luke blurts out.

“... I’m not following.”

“I mean, what if I don’t want to hurt his feelings? I just want closure on us and maybe then I can move on.”

“I’m sorry you want _closure_?” Calum asks, a hint of frustration in his voice, “Luke this asshole did you wrong and you have to do something back. You can’t just let him walk all over you!”

This was a concept all too new to Calum. For most of his life, Calum spent his time being the heartbreaker, never the one to have his heart broken. He made sure of this by getting out of every possible relationship that came his way, ending things before he got too invested and hurt in the end. This fear of being hurt began when Calum fell for his best friend when he was 11, only to discover that straight boys don’t just fall for their gay best friends. It was a feeling of hurt Calum never wanted to feel again, so he made sure that he was never the one being broken up with.

When Calum met Luke earlier in the night, he thought he would just be another douche, grindr guy wanting to get into his pants or to take advantage of him. And Calum would have, had Luke not opened up and allowed for his walls to be down around Calum. It was a rare thing for Calum, experiencing emotion from another human being mostly because he never saw any guys who approached him as people with feelings. But when Luke cried and Calum felt Luke’s heartbreak, Calum got an overwhelming feeling of needing to protect him; he saw Luke cry once, and he never wanted to see Luke cry again.

Which is why Calum was as frustrated as he was now. He had put all his eggs into one basket with this idiot, and here he was trying to help him completely obliterate his ex’s ego. And all he was getting in return was the possibility of Luke not wanting to hurt him at all. If Calum was being honest, he was scared that Luke would go crawling back to Adam, and for the first time in years Calum would experience the heartbreak he avoided once again.

“I know, but-“

“No buts. He’s a douche and we need to teach him a lesson by showing him that you’re better than him.”

“Calum I’m not very good at this.”

“Luke, you’re not very good at a lot of things, admittedly I’m still surprised you managed to get my number with your pick up, but that worked and everything else tonight has just _worked_. You have to trust yourself and make this dude suffer.”

“Yeah I know!”

“Good.”

“But-“

“Ugh.”




“So... how have things been?” Ashton asks awkwardly.

“Really good actually, I just got promoted at work so I’ll be making slightly more income.” Crap. There goes one potential weakness.

“Yeah he’s really come a long way,” Connor adds in, “soon enough we can buy that house together and move out of my condo.” He lives with Connor? There goes another.

“You guys already living together?” Michael asks angrily.

“Mhm, Connor was more than happy to have me move in.” Adam says through a bitchy smile.

“It’s been a lot of fun; buying groceries, going to the gym-“ Great, and now he’s working out more.

“Well you two seem to be living in paradise then,” Michael states, “no troubles at all?”

“Not at all.” Adam says sternly, “in fact I think I’m happier than ever.”

“Oh really?” Ashton asks angrily, “I mean, Luke’s dedication wasn’t enough?”

“Ashton-“

“No no it’s ok.” Adam spits back, “I mean, Luke was nice and he treated me well but he just wasn’t a man, you know? It was like having a child take care of me.”

“Michael I think we should walk away.”

“Yeah you two do that.” Adam agrees.

Michael and Ashton turn away, anger ridden all over Ashton’s face as Michael sighs.

“Oh, and I should probably mention I just got a badass tattoo!” Adam yells at them.

“Fuck!”




            “-And that’s called being shadey.” Calum says as he concludes his explanation.

“So being shadey is being bitchy without them really knowing you’re being bitchy?”

“Exactly, it’s like, being a bitch but a smart one above their heads where they don’t know.”

“Ok I think I’m catching on.” Luke says with a smile.

“Good. We’ll have him wrecked in no time.”

“Maybe not...” Michael says as he and Ashton walk up. Ashton keeps his gaze away, not letting on how angry he is.

“What do you mean?” Calum asks.

“Adam’s life is fucking perfect,” Ashton spits, “he’s got a promotion, a new place to live, a gym membership, a fucking tattoo-“

“Yeah and I’m pretty sure he’s using new hair product because his hair is looking especially-” Ashton glares at Michael, “-shitty. Especially shitty.”

Luke sighs, “so there’s no beating him?”

Michael and Ashton look at Calum for answers, hoping he knows a solution to their problem.

“.... I think you should go.”

The three boys turn to Calum, who stares at them with a defeated look on his face.

“W-what?”

“Yeah, I don’t think there’s any winning this.”

“But Calum you said-“

“Did you hear what your friends said, Luke?! That dude is perfect. You should... probably just get out of here before he sees you.” Calum says sadly.

“Oh...”

“Yeah...”

“We’ll wait for you by the door,” Ashton says, looking at Michael sadly. “It was really great meeting you Calum.”

“Yeah dude, you rock. We should hangout some time.”

“Yeah for sure boys.” Calum says with a strained smile.

“I kind of don’t want to go.” Luke admits to Calum as Michael and Ashton walk away.

“I know, but it’s probably for the best right?”

“Calum I’m so sorry I-“

“No, dude, it’s fine. If you have to go you have to go.”

Luke looks at Calum, sadness on Calum’s face very clear. If he was being honest, Calum was the only reason Luke really wanted to stay. He was really interested in Calum, the way he lived his life so differently and his morals but somehow managed to still relate to Luke on so many levels. It was one of those connections where Luke could have sworn in another life, Calum was always right there beside them; a life where fate played its cards right and the two of them grew up together and eventually fell in lov-

Ok, Luke was getting ahead of himself. But there was something in the way Calum looked at him that made him think that he had a chance. And Luke was scared that if he left Calum now, that chance would be gone.

“Aren’t you gonna say hi, Luke?”

Luke and Calum look up from their gaze and are met with Adam, standing before them both with his arms crossed. Luke feels his mouth go dry as Adam goes from looking at him to looking over at Calum, judgement on Adam’s face making Calum want to punch Adam out.

“I... I uh.”

“And who’s this?” Adam asks curiously.

“None of your business?” Calum spits back.

“Feisty this one. You sure know how to pick ‘em, don’t you Luke?”

“He picked your petty ass, didn’t he?”

“Ah of course, not defending yourself again, Luke? This is exactly why I left, you know. You’re the least manly person in the world.”

“Ok listen here douchebag if you think you can come up to us and-“

“Cal,” Luke says, “it’s ok. He’s not worth it.”

Adam scoffs, “well, I just thought I’d come over and say hi, see how you were doing. But I guess it’s very clear I’m not welcome.”

“You’re not. So fuck off.”

“Luke, are you really going to let your new boyfriend talk to me this way?”

“He’s not my-“

“He is. Now get lost before I make you get lost.”

“Ok ok,” Adam says defensively, “I’ll leave. It was uh.... interesting.... to see you again Luke.” Adam walks off, bitchy walk slapping Luke across the face.

Michael and Ashton come running back, having watched the whole scene take place.

“Wow, I hate that guy.” Michael says exasperatedly.

“Jesus Christ I forgot he was such a douche.” Ashton admits.

Calum is absolutely fuming, an anger coming over him that he isn’t sure he’s going t be able to control. “I swear to God if that fucker thinks-“

“I have to do it.”

The three boys look at Luke, acoldness to his voice that shocks them.

“Do what, Lukey?” Michael asks.

“I have to ruin that mother fucker.”

Calum, Michael and Ashton look at Luke and smile. This was gonna be fun.




As much fun as it was coming up with a diabolical plan, Calum was human like anyone else; in other words, when he needed to piss he needed to piss. Walking into the men’s room, he’s met with the typical bar scene: dude passed out by the sink, guy with a girl on the counter hooking up, maybe one good stall to use, and the sounds of someone getting head in the stall next to the good one. With a sign, Calum enters the one stall and starts to do his business, only to be interrupted by the sounds of the two men in the stall next to him.

“Oh my God you’re so hot.” One voice breathes out. Gross.

“Yeah, yeah you think so?” A voice says back, and Calum could have sworn that voice sounded familiar.

“Oh Adam you’re too much.” Adam? ADAM!?

“I know babe I know.”

Calum really did not want to hear Adam and Connor hooking up next to him while he pissed, but he was mid stream and couldn’t stop it there.

“Shouldn’t you go back to that guy you came here with?” Wait, what?

“He can wait he can wait.”

Hold on a minute.

Zipping up his pants (because he was a gentleman) Calum stands on top of the toilet seat, attempting to sneak a peek at what was happening beside him. Much to his dismay (or joy) Calum watches as Adam and a man who most definitely was not Connor make out in the stall, hot and heavy and very desperately. Calum pulls out his phone and snaps a picture, putting his phone back down into his pocket as he jumps off the toilet seat quietly. Not wanting to let the satisfaction get away from him, Calum shouts, “having fun in there, fuckface?” Calum hears Adam and the man stop, and as Adam emerges from the stall he smiles at Calum eerily wide.

“Ah, should have known it would be you.”

“Having with that bear in there?”

“Mmm he’s ok. Having fun with Luke?”

“You fucking bet.”

“Oh please, you and I both know Luke is a little bitch. Why are you wasting your time with him?”

“You’re calling Luke the little bitch while you hook up with another dude in here while Connor waits for you outside? Can you not just stay tied down?”

Adam shrugs, “I get bored sometimes, is that so wrong?”

“Yes, it’s very wrong.”

“And why do you care?”

“Because what you’re doing right now is exactly what you did to Luke and clearly you need to learn your lesson, asshole.”

Adam gets close to Calum, faces almost touching, “and what makes you think this is your business?”

Calum laughs, “Because after tonight, Luke is my business.”

Adam laughs in Calum’s face, “oh please, as if he’ll do anything about it. He’s a little bitch, and that’s all he ever will be.” Adam walks out of the bathroom, leaving Calum to plan out his next move.

Calum sprints back to the booth where he left Luke, Michael and Ashton. He pulls out his phone and sends Luke the picture of Adam.

“Guys you’ll never believe what just happened to me in the bathroom!”

“Ew dude we do not wanna hear about that-“

No! You idiot!” Calum shouts at Michael, “I saw Adam in there hooking up with another dude.”

The three boys look at Calum with wide eyes. “Hold on, he cheated on Connor?!” Ashton shouts.

“Mhm. I have the picture to prove it, I sent it to Luke.”

“To me?” Luke asks curiously.

“Yeah, of course. You have to confront him and call him out this is exactly what we were looking for.”

Luke sighs, “look, guys, I really just don’t-“

“Luke.” Ashton says sternly, “now, I know you’re not one for conflict because Lord knows you’re way too nice or it but you really have to do this. If not for you, for Connor and anyone else who might get played by this asshole. You have to embarrass him and call him out and prove to him that you’re the better person. What do you say?”

Luke stares at Calum and his two best friends, his mind racing at the task in front of him.

“I’ll be right back.” He says, standing up and marching towards Adam.

The bar around him moves as if the sea splitting in two as Luke makes his way over to Adam, determination and confidence moving through Luke as he conceptualizes what has happened tonight. A night started out on unsteady ground has now transpired into Luke somehow being convinced by the first guy he’s talked to in years telling him to confront his asshole ex-fiancé. It was something Luke never imagined he would be doing, but here he was now, moments away from blowing up Adam’s life right in front of his eyes. Adam turns away from Connor, smile on his face disappearing as Luke walks up to him.

“Adam.” Luke says.

“Uh.... Luke what are you doing here?”

“I uh... came here to say I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“What?” Calum, Ashton and Michael say from their seats. What was Luke doing?!

“Luke...”

“No, Adam, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t good enough and you cheated on me and you moved on so fast-“

“God dammit!” Michael yells, as Ashton and Calum continue to watch.

“Luke stop it you’re embarrassing yourself.” Adam says harshly, “and don’t cry over me again, please. You look pathetic enough.”

Luke wipes a tear, “oh these tears aren’t about you.”

“What?”

“What?” Calum, Ashton and Michael repeat again.

“These tears are actually for you...” Luke says, looking directly at Adam harshly, “because your life is so fucking sad.”

Adam stands, shocked, “excuse me?”

“Yeah you heard me. You think that you can just get stuff handed to you and people to do whatever you want just because you provide false love for them? I gave you almost eight years of my life and never once argued or put you down or made you feel any worse than you deserved because I’m a good fucking person, Adam, and clearly you’re not that. You cheated on me and you made me feel like shit and it was a feeling someone like me didn’t deserve. But of course, you make yourself to look like the hero, the one who got out because I was a little bitch who wouldn’t argue back. Well you know, maybe I was wrong. Maybe it wasn’t me to begin with. Maybe I was good enough and you just weren’t ready for someone like me. You keep calling me a little bitch and saying how I don’t have the balls to stick up for myself, well did it ever occur to you that maybe you’re just a bitch? You’re a fucking, terrible terrible bitch who probably will get their ass handed to them someday, if not by me. So fuck you Adam, you fucking petty, needy bitch.” Luke finishes his tyrant with a condescending smile, as Adam stares back at him in utter dismay. “Oh and Connor?” Luke holds up his phone to Connor’s face, “he’s cheating on you too.”

Connor looks at the picture, eyes widening as he sees Adam with another man in the bathroom. “Is that why you were gone for so fucking long?!”

“Connor listen I can explain-“

“No! No you can’t explain shit!” Connor takes his drink and dumps it over Adam’s head. “We’re done. I want your stuff out of my house by tomorrow.” Connor looks at Luke and Luke gives him a nod, signifying a thank you and a painful goodbye.

“Luke...” Adam says to Luke, wiping the drink off of his face.

“No, Adam. We’re done here. Have a shitty fucking life.” Luke turns on his heels and walks away. “Oh and nice shirt by the way,” Luke stops and turns back around, “looked a lot better on your mom though when she wore it in the 70’s.”

Everyone around Luke hollers as Adam runs away embarrassed. Calum, Ashton and Michael all high five each other at Luke’s success, as their friend comes back in a panic.

“I know, I know I screwed up I got emotional and-“

“No, no you did great.” Calum reassures him, “and I like the shirt comment. Very well played.”

“I learned from the best.” Luke says with a smile. Calum smiles back at him, the two of them sharing a moment as Ashton and Michael watch.

“Do you wanna meet me by the bar later for a drink before last call?”

Calum looks into Luke’s eyes, his pride and infatuation for him glowing, “yeah... yeah I’d love to.”

“Great.”

Calum laughs, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a bone to pick with some bears.” Calum walks away, only to shout over his shoulder, “Don’t forget to meet me for our drink!”

“I won’t!” Luke shouts back. He’s caught off guard when Michael and Ashton embrace him.

“Luke we are so proud of you.” Ashton says, tightening his grip around Luke.

Much to his dismay, Luke starts to tear up again, “that was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

“We know Lukey, we know. But me and Ash are very proud of you and what you did tonight was the most badass thing we’ve ever seen.”

“Yeah totally.”

Luke sighs, “Thanks guys.”

The three men remain in their embrace, until Luke speaks. “We’ve been hugging a lot tonight.”

“Yeah.” “Yeah.”

“We should stop.”

“Yeah.” “Definitely.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bitchy Luke is my fav. Also I really have no face character for either Adam or Connor so just imagine whoever you wish. Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

The night was soon coming to a close and Luke was feeling a complete spectrum of emotions. On one hand, he was having a really great time with Michael and Ashton; leave it to his two best friends to actually be _right_ about him needing to leave the house and actually helping him have a good time. It was pretty fun wingmaning them and helping them out with their bar experience, not to mention the amount of times he got to laugh at the two of them being mistaken for a couple. If he had stayed home tonight, Luke knows he definitely would have missed out on a lot of unexpected events that have more or less changed his life. On another hand, these so-called “unexpected events” have definitely shaken him up a little bit. For someone who was very against confrontation, Luke has experienced far too much of it, with being a part of a (somewhat accidental) bar fight, and somehow growing a pair of balls and putting Adam in his place. And never once did Luke imagine that he would have the guts to do either of those things. Even the mention of Adam’s name before this night brought Luke into a frenzy of tears, but here he was, enjoying a drink with Michael and Ashton celebrating what they call the “bitchiest bitch fest” they’ve ever seen. Admittedly, Luke was pretty proud for sticking up for himself, it was something that he always thought to do but never did. And yes, the visual of Adam having a drink poured on him was replaying satisfyingly over and over again in his head.

But, on another _other_ hand, Luke was nervous. And these nerves were because it was almost last call which means it was closing time; and closing time meant that it was time to go home. Except, Luke was pretty sure that he wasn’t going home alone. See, at the start of the night, Luke’s expectation of the night was to come out to entertain his two nagging friends, “try” to pick up a guy, and then go home to his dog Molly and his TV shows. But these plans were quickly abandoned when Calum swooped in, and Luke _still_ wasn’t sure how he managed for that to happen.

And honestly, Luke really did like Calum. Maybe even _like_ like. Which was obviously strange seeing as he had just met him tonight, but there was something about Calum that just felt so _right._ Calum was just so easily placeable in Luke’s life it was almost scary; while Calum was tough and confident, Luke was sweet and considerate of others, but that didn’t mean Calum didn’t want what was best for other people and, as exemplified by tonight, Luke had some fight in him. Calum fit into his group of friends like the four of them were always meant to be together, and fate made Luke the connecting bridge for this foursome to unite. They agreed on almost everything, from issues with trends in pop culture to the under appreciation of Canadian based rock bands. Calum even found Luke funny sometimes, and Luke admired Calum’s obvious obsession with dogs. They were more or less perfect for each other in all the weirdest ways, and Luke would be damned if he let the chance to let Calum into his life slip away.

Except, the nerves were coming in, because Luke wouldn’t like to admit it but he was scared of falling for Calum too quickly. What if Calum woke up tomorrow with no alcohol in his system and realized Luke wasn’t for him at all? What if Calum lied about all of his interests? _What if Calum was straight_? There were also the nerves coming in with the idea of bringing Calum home, because as much as he came here with the intentions of bringing someone home, at this point Calum wasn’t just _someone_. And what if Calum actually had found someone else to go home with? Luke had a short amount of time, and in this time he was going to need to figure out all the questions swirling in his head.

“Luke?” Ashton calls out, “Luke? You still with us buddy?”

Luke looks at Ashton, unaware that his friend had been calling out his name, “Yeah, sorry Ash, just a little overwhelmed at the moment. It’s been a long night.”

Michael scoffs, “dude, you’re telling me. This was probably one of the best nights out we’ve had in while.”

“Better than the time we went to the place with the mechanical bull?”

“.... ok maybe not the _best_ night out, but I definitely think this will be one for the history books.”

Luke sighs, “I’m just glad it’s almost over.”

Michael and Ashton laugh, “oh Lucas,” Ashton snickers, “the night is far from over.”

“Yeah dude, the nights only just begun.”

Luke groans, “are you guys serious? Because I was really hoping to just curl up into bed and sleep off this entire evening.”

“Dude, if you’re going home you’re definitely not going home alone.”

“Yeah Michael’s right, I mean do you really think after all this Calum’s just gonna go home with someone else?”

“Is it weird that I’m nervous?” Luke admits to his friends.

“Not at all, dude, there’s a lot of pressure that comes with taking someone home. You have to make sure things don’t get awkward and that you’re both ready and that they don’t lose interest.”

“Can’t me and Calum just go home and play with Molly?”

Ashton sighs, “I mean you can but I highly doubt that’s how either of you want this night to end.”

“I mean-“

“Luke,” Michael interrupts, “it’s been a long night, we get that, but we came out here with a mission and I really think that taking Calum home will be good for you. Maybe even for the both of you.”

“But Michael-“

“You’re falling for him too quickly and you’re scared that he only wants to have sex with you and then he’s gonna drop you like the rest of the people you assume he picks up at these bars, yes, I get it Luke.”

“Wait but how did-“

“Luke we’re your best friends for fucks sake we know what goes through your mind.” Ashton affirms.

Luke sighs, “I mean, as much as I don’t want him to be using me I don’t want _him_ to think that I’m using him, you know?”

“Yeah we get that,” Michael admits, “but you’ll never know unless you try, right? I mean I can’t confirm anything but I definitely feel like Calum is feeling something a little more too.”

Luke perks up, “you think so?”

“Oh, definitely dude,” Ashton says with a smile, “he’s been looking at you tonight like you’re his entire world. Not to mention the fact he would literally explode anytime Adam even looked at you.”

“Yeah the look on Calum’s face was terrifying I would not wanna mess with him ever.”

Luke looks at his hands, trying to distract himself from the conversation, “I just don’t wanna get my hopes up.”

“We know Lukey, we know,” Michael says, patting his friends back, “but trust me and Ash when we say we really think you have something good going for you here.” Ashton gives a nod in agreement.

Ashton feels a pair of hands grab at his shoulders, and he turns around and sees Breanne smiling at him. “Well hello.” He says with a grin.

“Hello to you too,” Breanne says, “I got off a little early if you wanna get out of here? I’d hate to take you away from anything though.”

Ashton looks at his two friends, waiting for confirmation that it’s fine that he leaves.

“Go ahead, Ash,” Luke says finally, “me and Mikey can take care of things here.”

Ashton smiles, “if you guys are sure?”

“Oh totally!” Michael says, then turning to address Breanne, “you take care of him now, you hear? That’s my baby you’re dealing with.”

Breanne giggles, “I wouldn’t think of it, Michael.”

“Good,” Michael says with a smile, “now get out of here you too.”

Ashton stands and grabs Breanne’s hand, “you two going to be ok?”

Luke and Michael nod, “you bet, Luke’s got his Calum and I-“

Oh. FUCK.

Michael stops mid sentence, a sudden realization becoming apparent to him.

Reading the look on Michael’s face, Ashton speaks, “Michael... you _did_ pick one right?”

Michael doesn’t respond, blank facial expression stuck on his face, “I’ll take care of him,” Luke claims, “have fun you two.”

“We’ll try,” Ashton says with a wink, “good luck Lukey. Text me in the morning.” Ashton and Breanne wave as they walk out of the bar hand in hand. Ashton Irwin has left the building.

“Will do Ash!” Luke yells back, smile on his face at the happiness Ashton was exuding. He turns to Michael, who was the exact opposite of happy at the moment, “hey, Mikey? Michaelangelo? You ok bud?”

Michael turns to Luke, slowly, “I’ve made a terrible mistake.”

Luke is about to speak when he feels his phone vibrate in his pocket.

Calum: I’m in my spot when youre done talking to your dads

Luke smirks.

Luke: Theyre not my parents lol

Calum: Make sure to tell them you’ll be home by curfew

Luke: Fuck you lol I’m coming

“Well, that’s my cue,” Luke declares, “you gonna be ok, Mike?”

Michael looks at Luke sadly, “I’ll figure something out. Go get your boy Lucas, and make me proud.”

“You sure you’re gonna ok?”

“You know me, Luke, I’m a smart guy, with a hot bod, and-“

“So are you gonna be ok?”

Michael sighs, “If I can manage to grab someone here in the next ten minutes, maybe. But don’t get your panties twisted in a not over me, you have a boy to be going home with!”

“Ok, well I hope everything works out!” Luke say, calling out over his shoulder as he walks towards the bar.

Left alone, Michael racks his brain for someone who may still be available. He scans the bar, and spots the birthday group still in their spot.

“Bingo.”




Calum was confused. At the start of his night, he was pretty sure this was just going to be another night spent alone at the bar, turning down guys and watching some football until he got bored and then walked home. He thought that he would just be here for an hour or two, and then leave without making conversation with anyone. Many guys had tried to talk to Calum all night, but all of them were absolutely terrible. There was one guy who bought Calum a muff diver thinking that Calum would take it off of him, but he was swiftly rejected. Another guy tried using a pick up line and Calum declined him quickly too. And Calum doesn’t even want to think about the giant group of bears. Ugh. Bears.

But then Luke came along; nervous, idiotic Luke who for whatever reason Calum gave a chance. And here he was now, almost at closing time having a drink with the same idiot who cried in front of him and told his about his ex fiance. Luke had brought an entire movie plot of events along with him tonight, and for whatever reason Calum was along for the ride every step of the way. From the bar fight to Adam, Calum stuck by Luke’s side and protected him from anything that could potentially hurt him. Albeit, Luke still got hurt in some ways but he definitely became more of a man tonight. And Luke becoming a man was all Calum could’ve hoped to achieve after they first met. Because as much as he’d hate to admit it, Luke was a very different person from the one he met at the start of the night, and the Luke he was waiting for right now was, for the lack of a better word, perfection.

And this is why Calum was confused. Because normally, Calum didn’t get this far invested into guys he meets at bars; it was always supposed to be the same routine of reject, reject, fuck and then reject. He never thought that he would even talk to a guy for more than an hour but here he was, sharing yet another drink with Luke in the very spot Luke had cried in previously. It was a weird full circle, and Calum was scared that this full circle may cause him to get hurt.

Calum really liked Luke’s friends and he really liked the way they hung out and he really liked Luke’s personality and he just really liked _Luke_. And it scared him because he never allowed himself to fall for anyone ever. It was like a rule to him; _the only time you ever get close to someone is if you fuck em and leave em after_. But Calum didn’t want to do this to Luke; he really didn’t have the heart to do it. Luke was sweet, and funny, and kind of oblivious, but he made up for it by being down to earth and easy going and these were all things Calum ~~loved~~ liked about him. But Luke was going through a lot and seeing Adam tonight definitely didn’t help him, and as much as Calum didn’t want to experience getting hurt again he also didn’t want to force Luke into anything. He has to remind himself though that Luke came out tonight to meet a guy, and if Calum was keeping track, the only guy besides Michael and Ashton Luke had shown any interest in was him.

So Calum knew at the end of the night he was gonna go home with Luke; he was just scared that this would be the last time he would see Luke again.

“Did I keep you waiting long?” Luke says as he takes his seat next to Calum.

“No not at all.” Calum says with a smile.

"Ok good. Sorry, just had to say goodbye to Ashton and make sure Michael was ok.”

“What’s wrong with Michael?”

“Well, he forgot to confirm anything with any of his pickups so now he has no one.”

Calum laughs, “oh jeez, so what’s he gonna do?”

At that exact moment, Calum and Luke hear Michael talking loudly, and they turn to find him standing amongst the giant crowd of girls he was surrounded by before.

“I think he’ll be ok.” Luke says with a laugh.

A silence falls between the two of them, as they finish their drinks and watch people exit the bar.

“So... I was wondering...” Luke says hesitantly, “at the start of the night when we first met and I asked you for your number, I asked you to go home with me.”

“Oh did you?” Calum says teasingly with a wink.

“Haha yeah... and I mean if you didn’t want to or had somewhere else to go I’d totally be ok with that.” Luke was lying. But he wanted what was best for Calum.

“Well... I mean...”

“It’s ok Calum, really.”

“No, Luke. I-I’m down.”

Luke look at Calum, shocked. “What?! Really?!”

“Yeah I mean, I’ve accepted no other offers tonight and we’ve had a good time. Why not, right?” Ok, nerves were now creeping into Calum’s system. Fucking Luke.

“Oh- uh sweet. Shall we uh... start walking then?”

“Do you live far?” Calum asks.

“Not really, and the liquor in our bodies will make the walk feel shorter anyway.”

“Alright then, lead the way.” Calum says, standing and directing Luke to the door.

Luke laughs, “I know I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but I have a dog and-“

“YOU HAVE A DOG?!” is the last thing Luke hears before he sees Calum running out the door.

Luke laughs to himself, “God he’s so cute.”




“So again, I don’t mean to pry by-“

“Yes, Calum, you can play with my dog whenever you want.” Luke says with a giggle.

“Yes!” Calum shouts, as he and Luke traverse the streets on their way to Luke’s flat. “What if she doesn’t like me?”

“Well, me and Molly have pretty similar tastes. We like and dislike the same people.”

“So are you saying Molly is gonna like me then?” Calum asks, playfully looking at Luke.

“Yeah...yeah I think she will.” And now Luke’s blushing. And he may not see it, but Calum is too.

“You know, despite all the weird things that happened tonight I had a really good time.” Calum admits.

“Me too.... definitely one of the stranger nights I’ve had though.”

“Oh, tell me about it.”

The streets were howling as a slight breeze began to pick up, Luke shivering into his jacket. He drops one of his hands out of his jacket pocket, letting it sway as he walks along the dimly lit streets. His body suddenly feels a sense of warmth, and Luke thinks it’s because of the wind stopping. He only registers a couple seconds later that it was actually from Calum grabbing his hand, interlocking their fingers tightly. Luke turns to Calum a little taken aback, but when he’s met with Calum’s sincere smile and a tint of a blush to his cheeks, Luke grins to himself. Ok, he was definitely falling for Calum and definitely falling fast, but if this move Calum just pulled was any indication of reciprocation, things were looking pretty good.




Luke and Calum walk up the steps to Luke’s flat, residing on the third floor of his building.

“I apologize in advance if there’s a mess, I’ll be honest in saying I wasn’t exactly expecting company.”

Calum chuckles, “honestly, Luke, it’s ok. After tonight I’m pretty sure mess is the last of our concern-“

As Luke and Calum round the corner, they feel the air being knocked out of their lungs. Their hearts sink to their stomach as they see someone standing in front of what Calum assumes is Luke’s door. Neither of them speaks or reacts, just stand frozen in place as the person in front of them opens their mouth to speak.

“Hi, Luke.”

Luke is taken out of his daze, anger rising in his chest as his emotions almost make him unable to speak.

“Adam?! What the fuck are you doing here?!”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, one chapter left.......... sorry to leave it at such a dramatic place but it'll be worth it in the last chapter!   
> Really gonna suck saying goodbye to this fic but I have a lot of other fics coming your way soon so look forward to those :)  
> Once again, thanks for reading I really appreciate it!!!!!


	10. Chapter 10

“Luke, I really think we need to talk.” Adam says to Luke, eyeing him intently as Luke stands with his hand interlocked with Calum’s.

“We really don’t have much to talk about,” Luke spits back, “I thought I made it pretty clear back at the bar that we were done talking.”

Watching this exchange happen, Calum tightens his grip around Luke’s hand. He was feeling the need to protect Luke come back, and if Adam even came closer than 5 feet to Luke than necessary, he wasn’t afraid to step in.

“Can we please just... take this conversation inside?”

“Adam I said-“

"Luke. Come on, you have a heart. I know you do. Just hear me out one more time. We don’t want to disturb the neighbours, do we?” Adam stares down at his feet, not wanting to tempt Luke into anything but subconsciously praying Luke would let him come in.

Luke was conflicted, because part of him knew he still needed some closure from Adam and he knew that this would probably be good for him, but he also knew that he didn’t trust Adam and he was pretty done with what he had to say. And there was also the fact of the matter he was currently holding hands with Calum, who was looking more and more enraged as the conversation went on. With a sigh, Luke pulls Calum towards his door and brushes passed Adam, unlocking the door and guiding Calum inside. To Calum’s surprise, however, Luke turns back around.

“Are you coming in or not?”

With a small smile, Adam enters Luke’s flat, a sense of familiarity coming over him.

“It’s nice to see the place hasn’t changed-“

“Just cut to the chase Adam before I change my mind.”

Calum was conflicted, because part of him was ready to absolutely smash Adam’s face in for even showing up at Luke’s place after what had happened at the bar. How dare Adam think he was just welcomed back and given a second chance and how dare he use Luke’s niceness to persuade him into talking. God forbid Luke would never turn anyone away no matter how horrid they were. And this was why Calum was conflicted, because part of him was somewhat hurt Luke had even given Adam the chance. Calum had come all this way, and if he was going to end up leaving here while Adam and Luke made up, he wasn’t sure he was going to recover. Calum is pulled back to focus at the mention of his presence.

“Are you at least going to ask your friend to leave so we can talk?” Adam asks pensively, staring at Calum harshly.

“Ok listen here bitch I don’t think-“

“Calum,” Luke says calmly, grabbing hold of Calum’s arm which had somehow ended up moving towards Adam. “I just need to hear him out one last time. For the closure.”

Calum could understand this, but also couldn’t at the same time. Wasn’t Luke done with this guy? Why was he giving him a chance?

“Ok fine,” Adam complains, “he’s staying I guess.”

“ _He_ is named Calum and if you’re going to be in my place you can at least be nice.”

“Luke I didn’t come here to be nice, I came here to win you back.”

“Adam what are you-“

“You and I had such a good thing going, you know? High school sweethearts who met at a party that Michael was hosting. You were sitting by yourself and Michael brought me over and we instantly had chemistry. We spent eight fantastic years together and we grew together as individuals and as a couple. Are you seriously willing to throw that all away? We were perfect for each other.”

Luke scoffs, “yeah, we _were_ perfect. And are you forgetting the part of the relationship where you cheated on me?! Because that’s pretty major.”

“I know I cheated, I know. It was wrong of me and you didn’t deserve that because you’re such a nice guy and I know I’m a dick and a bad person but you can change that, Luke. I was just so great when I was with you and I know I failed to see that in the grand scheme of things but you have to remember we were _engaged_ , Luke. I was willing to spend my whole life with you and you were the only one for me. And I know I cheated and there’s really no reason to justify it at all but I just know that cheating on you has definitely been the biggest regret of my life.”

“Adam...”

“And I know I cheated on Connor too which definitely doesn’t look good on my part but the only reason I did is because he wasn’t you, Luke. He wasn’t right and we may have worked well but I only settled for him because you turned me away and I needed to move on. Cheating on both of you was wrong, but cheating on you was definitely the worse of the two. You and I were meant to be, Luke, and I’m realizing that I’m not willing to let something like that get away.”

Listening to this entire conversation made Calum want to cry. There was no way that Adam was actually getting to Luke, there was no way that Luke was even considering taking Adam back. There was no way that Luke would even be effected by this, he was probably just being nice and letting Adam give his two cents before kicking him out the door. That’s all this was.

But then Calum hears a sniffle, and he turns over to see Luke crying. Luke had his arms wrapped around himself so tightly he looked like he was holding himself together. Calum felt his heart break seeing Luke cry again, but he felt his own knowing that Luke’s tears meant Adam was probably striking a chord in Luke’s heartstrings. Calum wanted to throw a punch so fucking bad, but there was a chance that this would make Luke cry harder. So Calum takes a few steps back, attempting to occupy himself in order to keep himself from crying.

“Adam.... I.... I don’t-“

“I know, it’s a lot to take in right now and I know that you have to think about this but just know that I’ll wait for you and I’ll give you all the time you need. But I love you, Luke Robert Hemmings. You’re the love of my life.” Adam leans forwards and places his lips on Luke’s, who doesn’t immediately pull away but is visibly turned off by the action.

All the insecurity, all the sadness, and all the sympathy in Calum is immediately launched from his body as he watches Adam kiss Luke. It was like a punch in the gut you were forced to relive over and over and over again. It was like someone had taken Calum’s favorite toy and was having more fun with it in front of his eyes. It was like someone was taking away possibly the one chance he had at true emotion, and Calum was, to put it lightly, fucking pissed off.

Calum’s not entirely sure how quickly he moves across the room, nor is he sure how hard he pushes Adam off of Luke, but all he knows is there was nothing more satisfying in that moment than taking his tightly gripped fist and colliding it with the side of Adam’s face, who in turn is blown backwards and falls into the door.

“What the fuck?!”

“Calum-“

“No, Luke,” Calum shouts, harshly looking at Luke, “you don’t get to speak. And you,” Calum says, pointing at Adam rubbing his cheek, “how dare you. How fucking dare you come here and hope for Luke to take you back after all you’ve done to him. How dare you try to soften him up with your sweet talk about being “high school sweethearts” and all that bullshit. Well, I think that’s all a load of crap. You two knowing each other since high school doesn’t prove shit; time doesn’t make a relationship, asshole. Trust and love do. And clearly, you don’t love Luke enough and Luke sure as hell doesn’t trust your cheating ass. You seriously think Luke would take you back after you fucking cheated on him? And then visibly cheated on someone else with Luke witness? You must be out of your fucking mind. And I’ll be fucking damned if you try to swoop in here and pressure Luke into taking you back, because your sorry ass clearly can’t handle being babied by someone who is way too fucking good for you.”

“Calum...”

“Luke,” Calum says, now turning to Luke, “I know I’m probably gonna regret saying a lot of this and I know I look like an idiot right now but... I just... I really don’t want to let you go, Luke. And I know that you crying is some sort of an indication that you’re touched by what Adam had to say, and if I’m being honest, it kind of hurts me. It hurts to think that someone as good as you would consider being with some asshole like him again, and you’re probably gonna end up hurt again too and that hurts me as well. And it also hurts because, well, I really enjoyed... talking to you. When you first talked to me earlier tonight, I wasn’t sure this was gonna go anywhere. But I got to know you and you’re probably one of the most breathtaking people I’ve ever met. And honestly, Luke, I’m scared. I’m scared because I never allow myself to feel this way about people, but here you are, and I’m most definitely feeling something for you. And I really think we have a good thing going here, Luke, and I don’t want to risk losing that chance at all. Because I promised myself I would never let myself get hurt again, and I think that’s a promise you need to make to yourself Luke, and by getting back together with him you’re only going to be breaking that promise to yourself. So please, Luke, don’t throw away a chance at something great and something real and someone who won’t do you wrong. I don’t... I don’t usually put myself out there like this, but I really think you’re the something special I’ve been looking for.”

It takes a moment for Calum to register the tears forming in his eyes, and aggressively he wipes at them with his sleeve. Fuck, he never cried in front of other people. Calum stares longingly at Luke, who looks at him with a similar expression back. His face is unreadable, which somewhat worries Calum. But Calum is reassured, however, with Luke stepping forward and placing his lips onto Calum’s. Their lips touch and a spark flies between them, a fire that feels as though it was meant to ignite but was waiting for the right match to ignite it. It feels comforting, it feels right; it’s a feeling Calum and Luke were both waiting for.

“Oh, are you kidding me?!” The two hear behind them, not stopping their kiss. “Luke, come on, you’re not serious are you?” Luke gestures towards the door, arms draping over Calum’s shoulders. “Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be then is it?” Luke gives a thumbs up. “Fuck you, Luke! I never fucking liked you anyway!” Adam storms out with the slam of the door, but neither Luke nor Calum can be bothered.

Calum pulls back and stares at Luke, smiles on both of their faces as they hold each other tightly. “I’m sorry for putting you on the spot.” Calum says shyly.

“No... no... don’t be sorry at all,” Luke says, “if I’m being honest, I made my decision from the start.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah... and my decision was you.”

The two crash their lips together again, when suddenly they’re interrupted by a bark.

“Oh, there’s Molly.” Luke says with a chuckle.

“Your dog?!” Calum says excitedly, “can I meet her?!”

“I think that can wait,”

Calum frowns, “what, why?”

Luke directs his gaze towards his bedroom door and winks, walking there slowly waiting for Calum to catch on. Calum does, and they’re naked on the bed in seconds.

 

* * *

    

“I remembered to feed Molly right?” Luke asks Calum, fixing his hair as he and Calum walk down the busy sidewalk.

“Yes, yes, you did. I gave her her water too so she should be set for the evening.”

“Water! Crap I almost forgot that.”

“It’s a good thing I’m there then.” Calum says with a chuckle.

Luke smiles, “yeah, you’re ok to have around.”

It didn’t take long for Luke and Calum to become official. After waking the next morning to find Calum still asleep in his bed cuddled to his side, Luke was sure the he and Calum would work out just fine. After a quant date of going to a restaurant and back to Luke’s, Calum popped the question to which Luke quickly said yes. It also didn’t take long for Calum to move in, deciding Luke’s flat was the perfect size for the two of them to live in. It also meant that Calum could play with Molly anytime he wanted, which was definitely a plus for living with Luke.

The two of them very easily and very quickly got used to each other. They shared meals together and when they weren’t working or Luke wasn’t at school, they were spending time together watching movies or writing songs for fun. Michael and Ashton came over often, the four of them becoming quite the group of friends. And Luke wouldn’t like to admit it but he was really glad that his boyfriend had such close relationships with his two best friends. Adam never made the effort to get to know Michael or Ashton as well as Calum was already making, and even sometimes he found the three of them hanging out without him. It should ahve been something concerning, but it was the exact opposite to Luke; all the most important people in his life coming together was definitely a good feeling. Of course, Michael teased them often and Ashton sometimes assumed the protective father position, but they were very quick to warm up to Calum.

And Luke’ parents were in love with Calum the moment they met him. They were initially unsure when Luke had informed them he was already in a new relationship, but the way that Calum chatted with his father and bonded with his mother was reassuring enough. And Calum’s family took him in immediately, almost as if he was one of their own.

It was a transition that should have taken a long time, but for the two of them happened smoothly and quickly. Now here they were, five months later on their way to the very bar where they first met. They had come here almost weekly with Ashton and Michael, and sometimes Breanne who was there whether or not she was working; it hadn’t taken long for her and Ashton to become official either.

“I’m glad it’s not too busy,” Luke says, as Calum and Luke walk into the infamous bar.

“It is a Thursday after all,” Calum states.

“I guess that’s true, oh look there’s Bre!”

With a tray full of drinks in her hand, Breanne approaches Luke and Calum, “hey boys! Ash and Mikey are in your usual spot. I already got your guys’ drinks there ready for you.” Breanne says with a smile.

“Bre, you’re seriously the best.” Luke says sincerely.

“It’s really nothing,” she replies with a smile, “just don’t get too drunk tonight we don’t want a repeat of last week.”

“Hey, I wasn’t that bad!” Calum argues defending himself.

“Cal, me and Michael had to carry you back to our flat and you slept with Molly in her dog bed.”

“To be fair, that bed is far too big for Molly to sleep alone in and it was very comfy.”

Breanne laughs, “fair enough, just have a fun night boys I’ll join you guys before closing.” She says, rushing off to deliver her drinks.

“She’s really sweet,” Luke says turning to Calum, “and Ash has been telling me that things are going great between them.”

“As great as us?” Calum asks teasingly.

“Hm... maybe not.” Luke kisses Calum’s cheek sweetly.

“Get a room you two!” Michael shouts as Luke and Calum sit in the booth.

“Ha ha, very mature Michael,” Calum says, “speaking of get a room, how’s the lady situation going?”

Michael scoffs, “well, seeing as everyone in this group has been wifed up-“

“Hey!” “Hey!”

“Ok sorry, wifed _and_ husbanded up, I am now the only one left to fend for themselves. And I have to admit it bothered me that all of you were set up for the first two months, but now I’m realizing the bachelor life is sweeeeet.”

“Mhm you keep telling yourself that Mikey.” Ashton says with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“Well I’m sorry, Ashton, we can’t all find perfect people like Breanne and Calum out there!”

“Aww, Mikey you think I’m perfect?” Calum says, making kissy lips at Michael.

“Pft, you wish, Hood.”

“You better not be hitting on other boys, Calum,” Ashton says sternly, “I may have to have a word with you.”

“Yeah, ok dad.” Luke says, gaining a light punch from Ashton.

“Can we just cheers to the night now like we always do?” Michael asks. The three other boys nod, raising their drinks to the centre of the table.

“To a great night, gentlemen!” Ashton yells. The four of them clink their glasses and finishes their drinks, smiling at each other as they talk about needing more drinks.

Mentally taking himself out of the conversation for a moment, Luke watches as Calum, Michael and Ashton chat animatedly to each other. This was exactly how Luke wanted his life to be; surrounded by some of the best people having good times and enjoying each other’s company. Life was in no way perfect; he was still somewhat awkward and he was definitely still not the best person to interact with at the bar scene. He also still got too emotional sometimes and second guessed everything and those four fucking pounds were harder to shed than he thought. But Luke’s life didn’t need to be perfect, and nor did he. He had two of the best friends in the entire world with him and probably the best boyfriend he could ever hope of having.

And really, besides that and a couple good drinks, would more could you want in life?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter :( But hooray for great ending for Cake! 
> 
> I'm honestly gonna miss this fic and I had such a good time writing it and got pretty attached to the story and the characters but who knows maybe I'll write a sequel or revisit it? 
> 
> I just want to say thank you to all of those who read this fic and enjoyed it as much as I did! It was honestly a pleasure to write something that was hopefully worth enjoying and I can only hope to provide you with equally as entertaining fics in the future. I'm definitely gonna miss writing super oblivious and dorky Luke and his bar misadventures!!! 
> 
> One last time, thank you so much for reading :D More to come very very very soon!!!!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! Story is gonna have 10 chapters overall, each chapter from some point in the night until last call for alcohol in chapter 8 or 9! Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
